Dragon's Alternative
by BlueFlaw
Summary: A dark guild finds the dragon slayers of fire, iron, and air in hopes of getting stronger. Once the guild 'disbands' the dragon slayers are left alone with two paths to take. Light and Darkness... This story follows Natsu, whose only goal is to become stronger and reunite with everyone he lost. However this goal will only make him lose more...
1. Found by Darkness, Seen by Light

**Chapter One**

 **Found By Darkness, Seen Some Light**

Dark clouds swirled above the home of a Dark guild's base. This ominous guild housed three particular dragonslayers. A pink haired fire dragon slayer slept on top of the wooden floorboards, snoring as loud as a dragon and a small blue cat took a nap on his scaly scarf. A blue haired girl sat on a stool and held a giant egg with strange markings on it; she shied away from her intimidating guildmates her were drooling and pointing daggers at her. These two were only small children who barely knew anything of the world when they were left to wander in it after their dragon parents disappeared mysteriously.

The blue haired girl named Wendy couldn't stand the intimidating people staring at the egg so she accidentally slipped out of her stool and accidentally fell on the pink haired boy's chest.

The guildmates immediately froze when they realized what happened. Once the fire dragon slayer's sleep was interrupted by harsh physical contact, a never ending brawl would occur, and they would all get beat to a pulp by the boy. But the boy continued to snore loudly with no worries in the silent guild. Everyone sighed in relief and Wendy softly stood up and whispered with a sweat drop. "Sorry Natsu."

When the guildmates thought that the absolute wrath of the fire dragon was avoided, the giant guild doors slammed out of it's hinges and in came a black haired boy, stomping towards Wendy with a tick mark. His guildmates mocked "Looks like Gajeel couldn't find his cat." They all laughed but unfortunately ceased to laugh when they all got suckerpunched by a club of steel.

Gajeel stopped in his tracks in front of Wendy and wore a sharp frown. "You are going to help me find a giant egg." He said, slowly and sternly. He felt jealous that the other dragonslayers found strange eggs but he would never say it.

"Whaaaat?" Wendy whined but she was already being dragged away by Gajeel, to find another giant egg with strange markings.

At sundown, the guild master strolled in through the entrance, not noticing that the doors were gone. By now, all the guild members were sprawled over the tables and floor, sleeping their debts away. The guild master kept walking, his mind focused on a small sheet of paper in his hands until he accidentally stepped on Natsu, who was still sleeping. He didn't flinch when Natsu groaned lazily "Get off me old man."

The guild master nonchalantly stepped off of the kid and said "I have a mission specifically for you."

"I don't listen to old people." Natsu started to heavily breath again to signal that he was about to sleep again.

"The mission is to fight someone really really strong." The old man said, hoping it would catch the young dragonslayer's interest.

Natsu immediately sat up and stared innocently to the guild master's eyes. "Who?"

The guild master handed Natsu a paper of wet papyrus with rips and tears everywhere.

The pink haired boy's eyes widened when he saw the mission. "Wake up Happy. we're going!"

Happy woke up immediately and chirped "Aye!"

The duo ran out the entrance just before a bolt of realization struck the guild master. The doors were gone… Just as Natsu and Happy were out of his vocal range, the guild master exploded and a tornado of salt burst from the guild, attacking all those who were in it.

The guild members yelled in agony "My eyes!" and "Why is the guild master salty again!?"

Natsu marched down a small path in a deep forest with Happy napping on his head. He strained his eyes when he tried to read the directions on the mission. He sighed in defeat and stood in front of a puddle. He looked at his reflection and all he saw was a ghost of Igneel. He rubbed his eyes and just saw his old self again. He sighed again, he was going crazy.

He frowned and said out loud under the shade of the forest. "Igneel, I know you can hear me since I guess you're technically inside of me so I'm going to ask you to guide me in any way. Please if you don't answer, I'll think I'm going insane. But the fact that I'm talking to myself means I am going insane. Answer me Igneel, Am I going crazy?"

There was no reply with the exception of Happy sleep talking. "Natsu is going crazy." The blue cat hummed lightly.

"Thanks a lot." Natsu muttered. Plan B then. "Zeref can you hear me?" He called. But he knew it was no use, for his brother was somewhere else hiding from life. Plan H. "Happy can you talk to me?"

Happy snored happily away before pausing to say "No" and then continue to snore.

"Why don't I have anyone normal that I can talk to?"

Natsu sighed and then decided to backtrack back to the guild. This mission was a fail because the challenger didn't appear and because he couldn't read.

He walked back to the guild location, only to find the guild in crumbles. So the guild master was salty again, okay. Natsu guessed he was free so he decided to explore the world with no restrictions. The only thing he really cared about in the guild was Wendy and Gajeel and Happy, but they'll probably be fine. Happy was with Natsu himself and he'll always protect the cat. As long as Gajeel is in search for his own cat, then everything will be fine. And since Wendy is with Gajeel, she'll be fine. And hopefully they'll find another guild where their guild master won't unleash a wave of fiery on to their own guild building.

In the meantime Natsu has plans to actually train until he can finally get strong enough to defeat Zeref. He walked down a different path through the forest, only to sense that there was someone stalking him. "Come out." He said.

A man walked out from behind a tree to reveal himself to be very old. He had white hair and a really long white beard. Although the eyepatch made him seem ten years younger Natsu thought. "I have a request… Join my guild."

"I don't listen to old people." Natsu replied immediately.

"Even if we could potentially lead you to Zeref?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."  
" I heard you say Zeref's name back there. Say, how do you know about Zeref at such a young age?"

"So you're that challenger from the mission!." Natsu exclaimed happily. "Let's fight!"

"You're no match for me, but I can train you to become strong. After all, I'm nearly close to discovering One Magic."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "What's your name old man?"

"Purehito, yours?"

"Natsu Dragneel."

* * *

 **Six years later x784**

A long black train zoomed through the rails in the clear blue sky. It's destination: Magnolia

"Mmm." A man groaned as he sat against the window of the train in a sickly position. Once the train stopped, he sighed in relief quietly. Curse this motion sickness...

The man departed from the train quite quietly and threw his dark cloak on and covered his head with a hood. He walked on a main road. The road led to a particular guild, called Fairy Tail, but he didn't know.

Walking on this path surrounded by various interesting buildings, he heard a scream come from the alleyway from the left. He came from a dark guild, why should he care? His thoughts bounced around back and forth.

"Dammit." He grit his teeth as he left to investigate the dark alleyway. Under the heavy moonlight, he saw a blonde girl being harassed by a group of thugs. The man was about to make a move when the blonde girl held up a golden key and yelled "Open! Gate of the Bull, Taurus!"

Then all of a sudden the key glowed and a muscular cow with a double edged axe appeared out of nowhere and started swinging his axe at the thugs. Seeing this, the man sweatdropped and started to walk out of the alley, wanting no business with this weird girl with the weird cow. _Back it up, back it up, Natsu you saw nothing in that alley so just back it up, real nice and slowly_ he thought to himself. But on que, the weird girl called him out when she caught up to him and pointed her key at him.

"Who are you?"

"Just a normal passerby." The man answered.

"I saw you come when I was being attacked by the thugs, are you with them?"

"Of course I'm not!" The man talked back as he felt slightly insulted that he could be seen as just a thug. If someone thought he was a thug, he would obviously do a way better job.

"Can you pull down your hood?" She asked. "Oh, by the way my name is Lucy."

"Yes the weird girl who can summon cows out of nowhere." The man said as he pulled down his hood at the request of the girl. _Wait why am I listening to her?_

"And your- you have pink hair…" Lucy trailed off.

"So WHAT? You have blonde hair, does it matter?" The man shouted angrily at Lucy. He felt offended that slightly having a different hair color is so strange.

"Oh sorry, I have never seen such a strange hair color." Lucy apologized.

"And I have never seen a man cow." The man grumbled.

"I didn't get your name."

"It's Natsu, yours?"

"I already told you…"

"It was something like Luigi I think…"

"It's Lucy…" She sweatdropped.

* * *

Natsu kept walking on the road after that conversation with Lucy but he couldn't help but notice that she was following him. He didn't ask why and just kept silent. Lucy broke the silence when she asked "Are you going to Fairy Tail by any chance?"

"No?" Natsu said in confusion. "I'm going to that restaurant over there." He pointed at the specific building that he was talking about.

"That's the guild Fairy Tail that you're pointing to." Lucy squinted at the building just to be sure. "Yeah, it is."

"Really? It looks like a bar to me." Natsu tilted his head. Here he was about to walk into a guild full of light mages. He was so hungry… and he took the train of death for no reason…

Lucy noticed Natsu wore a disappointed look as she heard his stomach growl. "Hey if you don't want your journey to be a waste, you could help me join Fairy Tail. I also hear that they have some pretty good drinks."

Natsu pondered on the request for a while. _Why do I feel in such a helpful mood today…_ He frowned and thought about his hunger and situation. Maybe he was supposed to walk in the path of light instead of the path of darkness. But dark guilds always worshipped his brother while light guilds always tense up when they hear the name 'Zeref' as if it's some kind of taboo. They even nicknamed Zeref the black wizard. On the other hand, Igneel always told him not to do bad things like burn the forest. Too bad that always happened. Natsu started to think too much that it hurt his head.

"Dammit I'm going insane."

Lucy blinked at Natsu. "Your answer?"

"Sure, why not?" Natsu said in an irritated tone.

As they strolled towards Fairy Tail, Lucy told Natsu a bit of herself like that she was a celestial mage that could summon key guys.

"They're not called key guys…" Lucy sweatdropped.

* * *

They finally stood in front of the large doors that would open into the guild of Lucy's dreams. She trembled a bit, what if she wasn't good enough to join?

Natsu just eyed Lucy and the door. "So am I supposed to open the door for you or what?"

"Please." Lucy whispered. She really needed help, she didn't have the courage to do this by herself. But she retracted that thought when Natsu opened the door in an unnecessary way. He kicked the door and the giant wooden doors literally blasted off its hinges and was launched into a few unsuspecting people.

But that wasn't the worst part. The worst part is that a naked guy just suddenly crashed into her. She screeched in horror "WHERE ON EARTHLAND ARE YOUR CLOTHES?!" She covered her eyes (halfway). And she looked pleadingly to Natsu, to get the heavy naked guy off of her. But the naked guy just pushed her off and launched himself towards the people in the building.

Natsu just stood still with his eyes as voids. Yes, what was seen cannot be unseen… Now Lucy and the cow just seemed like ordinary people after seeing that guy… But he was suddenly hit with the bolt of sudden realization. Fairy… Tail? This was the guild Purehito always talked about. This was the supposed guild that housed the secret of Fairy Heart. He peeked at the inside of the guild, trying to avoid the sight of the naked guy. All he saw were aggressive people, a barmaid and a drunk.

"Is this really the guild?.." Natsu trailed off.

Lucy continued the sentence for herself unconsciously "... That I wanted to join?"

Natsu and Lucy looked at each other after they realized that they created a sentence together. Lucy was about to say weird, but nothing could get weirder than a naked guy falling on you.

They stared in horror when they saw that everyone in the guild didn't pay much attention to the guy with no clothes. "I think… I should take my leave…" Natsu said, wide eyed.

"Take me with you…" Lucy shook her head out of those thoughts. "No, I'm going to finally join my dream guild." She said with bright determination.

"Good luck." Natsu snorted and disappeared.

"DON'T LEAVE ME!" Lucy shouted but the pink haired man was long gone. Now she was alone, surrounded by her possible soon to be new guildmates. Lucy was found crawling low on the floor, trying to avoid to get involved with the fight going on until a certain white haired girl spotted her.

"What brings you here?" Asked the white haired barmaid with a smile.

"Um… I- I want to join your guild." Lucy muttered.

"Oh joy, the master will be happy to see a new member." The barmaid clapped. "My name is Mirajane."

"I'm Lu-" Lucy couldn't finish the sentence when Mirajane was taken out by a flying table. "Uh, I guess I'll introduce myself when you wake up. Hehe…" Lucy looked slightly scared at the fact that Mirajane might be dead now. She couldn't hold her thought when a big guy with white spiky hair crashed onto her body. "Help me please." She gasped as she was being crushed by a weight greater than hers.

While the guy who crashed into her didn't notice and screamed something about being a man.

Natsu hid in the shadows and chuckled at the sight. He wondered what would have happened if he had joined a guild like this instead of a dark guild. Before being noticed, he left through the front entrance that no longer had doors. He remembered the times when he could blast open a door like that. Too bad the guild he's in now is just a floating airship with a million doors that lead to nothingness.

On his way out, he saw a small old man who looked at him suspiciously as their paths crossed. The old man sensed something intensely dark in the pink haired boy with a hint of light. He was about to introduce himself to the boy, but his thoughts suddenly snapped towards his guild where the doors were no longer able to be seen... again. His magic exploded and he immediately transformed into a giant to crush the brutes inside the guild.

"BRATS! COULD YOU ALL STOP ACTING LIKE DESTRUCTIVE MONSTERS AND JUST CALM DOWN FOR ONCE."

Everyone froze in disarray, not ready to receive punishment. Natsu was surprised when the naked guy acted like he just realized that he wasn't wearing clothes.

"AND WHO IN THE WORLD BLEW THE DOOR AGAIN?"

Natsu couldn't stop himself from laughing. That old man was possibly the guild master. So this guild also had a master that explodes and scolds everyone, just better. If only Gajeel and Wendy were in the guild then it would just be like old times.

He saw everyone point at Lucy and say "It was her, the new girl."

Lucy wore a look of astonishment and yell "It wasn't me!"

"A new girl?" The old man shrunk to midget and inspected Lucy. "We could use another strong member… But why does every member have to kill the door?"

"Like I said, IT WASN'T ME!" She cried as everyone cheered in happiness that another member was addd to the guild. Shortly after, they all continued to brawl again like nothing happened.

Then Natsu left. He was supposed to report to Purehito about his meeting with Fairy Tail, but he still eavesdropped on the conversations going back and forth in the guild with his really good hearing and all. _What an odd guild._ He smiled.

 _So that's what a light guild is._

* * *

 **Thanks for Reading!**


	2. A Scary Tin Can

**Chapter 2**

 **A Scary Tin Can**

"YOU IDIOT!"

There was a crow on Natsu's head, pecking him furiously in a rapid speed. There was a communication lacrima resting on the crow's back.

"YOU CROSSED THE LINE THIS TIME, I TOLD YOU TO NEVER GO NEAR FAIRY TAIL WITHOUT MY PERMISSION!"

"Yeah, yeah. I already told you it was an accident." Natsu sighed as the crow kept jabbing his head with it's sharp beak.

"WHAT KIND OF IDIOT MISTAKES THE FAMOUS GUILD, FAIRY TAIL FOR A COMMON BAR?"

"You never did teach me how to read." Natsu retorted.

"IT'S BECAUSE YOU NEVER LISTEN TO ME!"

"And that's the reason for every conversation we have. I never listen and you can't do anything about it. Hehe." Natsu smirked.

The voice talking from the lacrima sighed. "Fine, change of plans."

The crow finally stopped pecking and Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Hmm? What is it? Are you going to declare war on Fairy Tail this time?"

"No, war is in future plans. Do you want to infiltrate Fairy Tail?"

"Nope." Natsu replied quickly which made the crow above him to start pecking him again.. That guild is full of crazy people, plus he never wanted to see that naked guy ever again. "Let Ultear do it, she's good at infiltrating places."

"She's already busy with the council."

"Then let someone else do it." Natsu groaned.

"Everyone else is too crazy and emotionless to be fully accepted into a happy-go-lucky guild like Fairy Tail. You're basically the lesser of the other evils."

"I don't care." Natsu said.

"Well, I guess I could always send Meredy to do it."

"So what?" Natsu questioned in monotone frustration. "Just because we both have pink hair does not mean we have any feelings for each other. Get that conclusion through your old head!" Natsu snapped and flailed his arms.

"Damn," Purehito whispered. "I was sure that would get him."

"I can hear you." Natsu sighed. "Fine, I'll do it, just get this crow off me before he pecks me bald."

"Your stubbornness is going to be the end of me. At least you accepted, and who knows, maybe that guild will teach you how to read for once. Oh and next time, don't act like an idiot."

"If there is a next time." The dragon slayer smiled. "I'll probably stab you in your back the next time we meet."

"Thanks for the heads up, boy."

"No problem. Now leave before I change my mind about this mission." Natsu said grumpily.

The crow flew away and Natsu was left by himself. His stomach growled. He was so very hungry. Natsu lied down and stared up to the sky. The sky was blue, like Happy. He recalled memories of when he said goodbye to Happy.

Their separation happened so quickly. Natsu never meant any of it to be sad. He did say they would meet again, but after all these years… they never had. He thought this would be the right thing to do for Happy. Work in dark guilds were never safe for a human's physical and mental health. That's why he sent Happy away, to keep Happy safe from the dark guilds and from himself. At times like that, he wished Happy would be more stubborn than usual. It broke his heart when he sent Happy away into the care of some random old man. Maybe he should've left the dark guild too, but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to finally meet Zeref again.

A shadow loomed over Natsu, it snapped him out of his reminiscing. It was a girl with white long hair. She glared at him which to Natsu's perspective seemed somewhat uneasy.

"Hey, you're that Sorano from that Oracion Seis or something." Natsu realized, snapping his fingers.

"Shhh. You're supposed to keep quiet about that stuff." She whispered. "And call me Angel." They both were in silence for a few seconds as a scarlet haired girl with a giant crate passed by behind them. Once the girl was no longer to be seen, they resumed their conversation.

"I overheard your conversation with your master. Something about infiltrating Fairy Tail." Angel said quietly.

"Yeah..?" Natsu replied, not really knowing where this conversation was going.

"I want you to bring this key with you and show it off a bit.". She took out a golden key with a weird pink symbol on it. She gave Natsu the key along with some other silver key with a symbol a a blue snowman. "Oh, and you can give this silver key away for some money or whatever if that's what you're in to."

Natsu shrugged. "I don't exactly like to be the attention hogger. And I'm not so sure about doing what you're telling me to do."

"If you accept then I'll give you some info about my guild."

"Really?" Natsu seemed quite interested even though he had nothing to do with Oracion Seis. "I accept your mission then. I need some food cash anyway."

Angel smirked. "First, a small dark guild has plans on getting their hands on an sealed magic item called Lullaby -though I'm sure you're not interest in that. Second, we recruited a girl named Wendy Marvell into the guild. She seems to have similar magic compared to yours."

Natsu nodded in gratitude with this shared information. He hadn't seen the young dragon slayer in years and had wondered how she was doing. Wait… if she's with Oracion Seis, then what in the world had happened to Gajeel. Natsu seemed flustered at the moment and facepalmed. Angel took this moment to leave in silence.

Natsu sighed, and his stomach growled loudly.

* * *

This time Natsu wondered until he found a real bar. A real bar that hopefully didn't have any crazy mages. He peeked through the swinging cafe doors, making sure there weren't any naked people roaming around. He sweatdropped, by doing this he was ruining his reputation. Ever since that Fairy Tail incident, he could never be too careful.

This bar had a dark atmosphere with all kinds of people in it. Drunk, dead, and drunk was the definition of the people in this bar. But Natsu didn't care, as long as there were no naked people, then he could stay here forever.

"One glass of fire please!" He called to the barmaid. The barmaid looked at him confusingly as if she has never heard of such a drink. Natsu just narrowed his eyes at the barmaid and just collapsed on the nearest table to him. "I give up on life again." He sighed.

There was a red haired girl reading a newspaper sitting on the same table as him who raised an eyebrow at him.

"I was just kidding." He caught the girl's eyes and a chill was sent up her spine. He groaned as he thought that starving was making him feel cold, which was not normal.

Too hungry to even sit up straight, he rested his head on the wooden table as he eavesdropped on a few drunkies.

"The end is nigh." Said one drunk, showing off his guild mark on his face.

"Yes, once we get that sealed Magic item, nothing can stop us."

"And hopefully Erigor will finally praise us for doing something useful."

"Yeah, let's go, it's getting late."

The people talking got up from their seats and shoved a couple people out of their way before leaving the doors. They were probably part of the guild that Angel was talking about but it didn't really interest him, in fact, it only made him feel hungrier. "Someone help my stomach please." He groaned out loud.

Unnoticably, the red haired girl walked next to him. "Shall I help your stomach innocent civilian?"

Natsu nodded, hunger was the worst thing next to transportation -his weakness. Maybe this person would offer him some food or something. He did see the girl hold a plate of strawberry cheesecake. But no, what he got instead was a punch in the gut, something he was expecting the least. The punch felt extra hard due to hunger so Natsu blacked out.

* * *

When he woke up, he found himself lying down on some suitcases on a cart. On a cart that was moving. Transportation plus hunger? THIS IS HELL.

Natsu rolled down, struggling to get of this abomination. The red haired girl looked back and smiled "You're awake, good. Oh, I'm sorry for knocking you out, I didn't mean to-"

She stopped her sentence when she saw Natsu throw up over the cart. "Get… me off… of this damn thing… please."

The girl didn't react to the vomit and did as he requested. "I'm so sorry, hit me please." The red haired mage bowed down, expecting to get punched.

Natsu held his mouth and looked at the girl. She bore the Fairy Tail guild mark on her left arm. Fairy Tail again… Why is it always Fairy Tail? "It's fine, it wasn't really your fault anyway." He groaned. "Are you going to Fairy Tail?"

"Yes, how did you know?" The girl glared at him suspiciously. _Who was this guy? And what is with this aura he's emitting? It's so strong, and dark..._

"I just noticed you bear the mark of Fairy Tail."

"Oh, who are you?" The girl relaxed a bit.

"Just a regular passer-by. Name's Natsu, your's?"

"Erza Scarlet."

Well damn. Erza Scarlet as in Titania. Every dark mage knew her, therefore they avoided her for obvious reasons. When she makes someone bleed, she actually made them bleed. Some say that that was the beauty in her magic. He felt like his chances of infiltrating Fairy Tail got even lower. Is this how Lucy felt when she tried to join Fairy Tail? But this could also be his chance to join Fairy Tail with no suspicions. Right, he just had to act normal… right, normal…

"I heard Fairy Tail was such an awesome guild and so cool and stuff and I just wanted join and all. Uh, what do you think my chances are of being able to join the guild?" Natsu said really quickly in order to get this off his chest. But great, he sounded like a complete fanboy who would seem to be the weakest mage ever.

"What?" Erza stepped back, in complete surprise. Just a few seconds ago, she had expected him to be some kind of incredibly strong evil wizard or something. But he just happened to be some crazy fanboy whose only intentions were to join her guild.

"Can. I. Join. Fairy Tail." Natsu said slowly in complete shame. Yes he was an idiot, but he did have some pride. Right now he just threw all his pride down the drain just to join some guild. _I am so going to get you for this, Purehito._

Erza sweatdropped. "Well I'm not the one who approves of members but I think you have a 95% chance of getting in… It might be 100% if you drop that fanboy act…"

"It's not an act…" Natsu sulked. He really only sulked because Erza found out that he was acting. He didn't think his acting was _that_ bad.

To his luck, Erza took his statement seriously and tried to calm him down. "Oh, sorry. I didn't know fanboys of this level existed. So sorry for hurting your fanboy pride. Uh, sure I think you can join…" Erza sweatdropped. The world was full of many different kinds of people. But she guessed that was to be expected. After all, people with weird stripping habits existed…

"Really?" Natsu asked, more surprised than joyful. Maybe his little fanboy act went too far and now the so called Titania now thought his was some crazy fanboy who cries over rejection. _Oh no…_

Natsu nodded, trying to show a little enthusiasm that he was accepted to Fairy Tail by the almighty Titania herself. "Can I walk with you?" He asked.

Erza nodded.

As they were approaching the town of Magnolia by foot, Erza decided upon herself to ask this Natsu some question.

"Are you actually a crazy fanboy?" She lifted an eyebrow towards Natsu.

"No, I'm actually not." Natsu admitted with a sigh. "I just thought that that approach would make my chances of joining Fairy Tail much easier."

"Oh, no. I don't have to act like that in order to join the guild. You just have to be yourself and you'll be guaranteed to be able to join. No matter what dark past you may hold." Erza smiled to Natsu.

"No matter what dark past… huh?" Natsu whispered to himself.

Erza breathed in. Okay, next question. "Why do you want to join Fairy Tail. And now that your fanboy act is up, you can't say awesome or cool like before."

"To get stronger." Natsu said with confidence. Although it was possible that there was no mage in Fairy Tail that could match his strength. He bet that he could even beat Erza right here and now if he wanted to. But showing that he was incredibly strong would blow his cover… wouldn't it?

"What magic do you specialize in?" Erza asked.

"You'll see." Natsu answered.

Erza was a bit disappointed with his response, but came up with an idea to let him expose his magic to her. "Do you want to go on a mission with me?"

"Sure, why not…" Natsu accepted stiffly.

"We'll meet in Magnolia Station tomorrow and I'll provide more detail there. For now let's meet Fairy Tail."

Natsu nodded his head. He had hoped this day would never happen, but here he was about to enter the building of Fairy Tail in broad daylight.

"You ready?" Erza asked as she reached a hand out for the newly rebuild front doors of the building.

Natsu stepped back and when just a tip of Erza's fingers touched the wooden surface of the door, the two large doors violently flew wide open.

In the building, were all the members frozen, staring right at her in horror.

"Erza's back…" One of the members proclaimed.

"Erza?" Natsu recognized this voice to be Lucy's.

"E-Erza -san… what is that humongous thing?" Spoke one of the guild members who pointed at the giant horn she was holding.

"Oh this thing? It's a horn of a demon I subdued and it looked pretty so I brought it back as a souvenir. By the way, where's master?"

Natsu stepped back again. He didn't even realize she was holding a giant souvenir before anyway, but that just shows that he doesn't pay too much attention to the smaller details.

"Master is out on a meeting." Smiled a white haired bar-maid.

"Anyways, guys…" Erza paused and inhaled a bit. This was her time to shine. "I heard you guys have been causing trouble again. Even if Master forgives you… _I won't_." Her speech boomed through the whole building, and Natsu thought it was about his time to leave.

It's not like he was afraid of anything. After all the things he's encountered his whole life, this would probably not be his most scariest experience. Most weirdest yes, scary no.

He sighed and left the scene. It's not like he was in a rush to gain Fairy Tail's trust. Plus he didn't want to get too attached to them.

* * *

It was not good for his health to keep on betraying the one's he loved.

 _Zeref. Igneel. Happy. It's because I walk this path, that I will betray anyone I meet._

* * *

Erza had finally finished scolding everyone for their usual behavior then she turned towards the stripper, also known as Gray.

Gray felt a bit unsettled that Erza left her gaze on him but tried his best to look unfazed. His attempt to look cool was suddenly punched when Erza literally punched him square in the face.

"CLOTHES!" She yelled in rage.

She quickly regained her strict composer like nothing happened. "Gray. I need you to help me on a mission." She stated with her hair shadowing her face.

"A mission?" Gray repeated in surprise.

Everyone in the guild gasped and whispered some comments to each other about Erza's announcement.

"Yes, do you accept or no?"

Gray immediately accepted but looked calm when he did. "Sure."

"Great I'll go over the details later. For now let's wait oh and I have someone to introduce to you." She smiled. "Na-" She looked around for the pink haired man, but he was no longer to be seen. "Where'd he go?" She rubbed her head in confusion.

* * *

-The next day at Magnolia Station-

Natsu leaned on his stomach on a small bench, already predicting his demise with the train of death. "When she said meet at Magnolia Station, why didn't I realize we were taking the train. I'm so dumb…" He groaned in agony. He was a powerful mage reduced to a bug in the face of vehicles of transportation.

He noticed a familiar scent come his way. He sat up and turned his head to the familiar scent, there he saw a busty blonde and a raven haired guy wearing a coat.

"Hey Lucy." He waved at her.

She looked at him in surprise and responded "Natsu? What are you doing here?"

"Erza invited me on a mission, how about you?"

"Well I was kind of forced to go on the mission with her." Lucy whispered to herself darkly.

The man in the coat scoffed. "Erza asked for some stranger for some help? It must be something big then… Well even then, I'm all the help she needs."

A vein popped on Natsu's forehead. "We'll see about that, arrogant stripper." The words just flew out of his mouth for no reason. He didn't even recognize the guy until he said the word stripper. Stripper? Natsu jumped off the bench in shock and shouted "You're that lousy stripper who flew into Lucy barenaked!" Lucy sweatdropped at his reaction.

"So… what about it?"

"THAT'S NOT NORMAL!" Natsu and Lucy cried out loud.

"Okay then." The guy shrugged like it was nothing.

Two seconds later…

Lucy stared at him in horror and screamed.

"How the hell does that happen?" Natsu asked, closing his eyes.

"Does what happen?" The raven haired looked at them in confusion.

"GRAY, YOUR CLOTHES." A scarlet haired mage walked from behind him and sucker punched him in the face -like yesterday but more painful.

Lucy facepalmed at Gray while Erza looked a bit surprised when she spotted Natsu.

"Oh, Natsu. I didn't think you'd come. Especially after you just disappeared yesterday."

"Well introductions can wait. My empty stomach was my first priority anyway." He grinned.

"So what's the mission?" Lucy asked.

"We'll talk on the train." Erza said.

"The train?" Natsu wondered as the train they were taking just arrived. "The train…" Natsu groaned as he faced his demise.

The group entered the train and took a few passenger seats. The poor man in charge had to take care of Erza's luggage. Natsu seemed to very very slow in boarding the train as he swayed left to right, taking baby steps to his seat.

As they all seated and the train departed, Erza started to explain this mission further. Natsu tried his best not to show his motion sickness, however he failed when they saw his face turn blue and he collapsed.

"Hey what's wrong with you?" Lucy asked.

"I think he has a severe type of motion sickness. He acted like that before when he was on my luggage cart." Erza realized.

"Oi then why'd you bring him along Erza? He might be completely useless on this mission." Gray said.

Natsu twitched when he was called useless. _Me, useless?_ Natsu thought as a bit of rage built up inside of him.

"Well I sensed a lot of potential power from him when we met. I hope I wasn't wrong…"

"I- I'm okay." Natsu gasped as he struggled to keep his composure. "Really…"

"No you're not." Erza said as she punched him in the gut, making him unconscious.

"Poor dude." Gray said as he felt pity towards the guy.

"Okay so as for the mission…"

* * *

Natsu woke up in the moving train alone. "Did they leave me?" he asked himself while slightly getting a monster headache. "Oh great."

He cringed in as the train suddenly started to decelerate rapidly until it came to a ferocious stop. He clenched his stomach and he looked confusedly at his surroundings. The other passengers panicked as he tried to keep his body fluids within him.

"Oi…"

Suddenly someone crashed into the train cart from an emergency door and rolled in unpleasantly. He quickly jumped up on his legs and positioned himself to an awkward stance.

Natsu covered his mouth while the intruder whispered some magic spell. Immediately the whole train was covered in darkness.

Everyone was probably blind except the caster right now. Natsu was still recovering from his motion sickness but he used the last bit of his strength to create a small fire.

The caster of shadows noticed this while one by one he silenced each passenger permanently. "There's a wizard on board?" the caster smirked.

Natsu quickly extinguished the flame to keep his presence hidden. But he knew better than that. He was in the shadow's domain, and _you can't run away from shadows…_

His nose twitched as the scent of the intruder grew closer and closer, until…

Flames immediately relit Natsu's fist as he jumped and punched the intruder. The shadows instantly vanished and the intruder crouched on the floor, wiping blood away from his nose.

"Interesting." the shadow caster said but he didn't expect the fire mage to quickly kick him again with legs of fire.

"Get out." Natsu yelled as the intruder was launched out of the train.

He paused and just stood still by himself when he realized that he was the only one on the train. He gazed at his surroundings carefully when his eyes stopped at a certain wooden object.

He had never seen this object before yet it looked so familiar. It puzzled him greatly.

* * *

Erza, Gray, and Lucy ride on a magic vehicle at max speed headed toward the train they had just left.

"I can't believe we forgot Natsu on the train." Lucy muttered.

"It's my fault." Erza said.

A train cart reached into their peripheral vision and Erza violently stomped on the brakes. The vehicle left rubber marks on the dirt ground. Just before in completely came to a halt, Gray jumped off the vehicle in motion, headed toward the train wreck. Lucy followed but ended up crashing into the ground. "Ow." she cried, her face planted in the ground.

One of the doors on the side of the train was swinging slowly through its broken hinges. It sounded so eerie and the air from the train didn't feel pure either. It was like an investigation into the haunted train.

"An investigation into a haunted train…" Lucy whispered. A light bulb lit as she got an idea. "A possible idea for my new story."

Erza caught up with the crew as they held the swinging door open, and entered the train wreck. It was empty…

However they did notice a few burn marks and blood stained on to some of the walls.

Erza's eyes flared angrily as she recalled a certain memory. She stiffly walked out of the train.

"What's wrong Erza?" Lucy called out to her.

"I just remembered…" Her scarlet hair shadowed over her face.

"What?" Gray crossed his arms as his clothes seemed to have disappeared from his body.

"I recall hearing that _Salamander_ was assisting with this mission." A red glow illuminated from her eyes.

Lucy jumped back wide eyed. "Salamander? You mean the guy who burns down anything in his path, leaving destruction in his trail? THAT Salamander?" Her jaw hit the ground as Erza nodded. "Scary."

Gray shrugged. "That's nothing compared to Titania - the mage who cuts everything in her wake, leaving a trail of blood."

Lucy closed her eyes and muttered. "Monsters."

* * *

Natsu sneezed and rubbed his nose. In his hand he held a wooden flute that has its tip carved into a skull with three eyes.

"Lullaby." He whispered as he approached the entrance to the Oshibana Station. He stopped in his tracks. "Wait I was supposed to try to join that guild. What am I doing here?" He realized and shamed himself. Idiot.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading :D**


	3. A Ride With Fairies

**Chapter 3**

 **Ride with Fairies**

"Wow Natsu, you actually got Lullaby."

Natsu turned around to the source of the voice. He saw a girl with short pink hair. "Meredy? What are you doing here?"

"Master told me to check up on you, so here I am." She said cheerily as she turned around towards the shadows.

"Leaving already?"

"Yup. But before I leave, master requested that I take Lullaby from your possession if you had it by now. Is that fine with you?" Meredy reached her hand out to Natsu but Natsu dodged her hand.

"I'll keep in in my hands for now. That old man is only obsessed with Zeref, he wouldn't care for something like a cursed flute. Just tell him it got destroyed or something." Natsu waved a grin at her.

"Okay. See you."

One step into the shadows and her whole body completely vanished. "What was the point of that?" Natsu sweat dropped. _This was perhaps another attempt from Purehito to pair them together._ He can imagine in now, Purehito smirking with hearts blooming behind him. "Oh young love!" He would say. No he's too dark for that...

* * *

After a few minutes, Natsu heard a few pairs of footsteps headed his way. They were probably Lucy and the others he though. But what was this dark aura he was feeling?

He turned around to the group and cocked his head. Why the hell did Erza wear a sadistic smile? And why was Gray naked again? Well he guessed that that was to be expected as he felt like that happened every five minutes.

"Erza-" Natsu tried to say but the scarlet haired mage rushed passed him. Gray followed the Titania towards the Oshibana Station.

Lucy collapsed when she was near enough to Natsu. "Those two have too much stamina…" She heavily breathed in and out rapidly.

"I see." Natsu noticed as the two figures disappeared into the station.

"One mention of Salamander and they both got pumped." Lucy sighed. "I mean, who would want to fight such a scary and powerful mage?"

Natsu smiled. "I know, right?" He sweat dropped and he could have sworn he heard that nickname somewhere… "Well let's get going before they take all the fun." Natsu reached out his hand to Lucy.

Lucy grabbed his hand and stood up. "Okay, let's go!" She shouted with enthusiasm. But before they even moved from their spot, a few people spotted them.

"Who's there?" Yelled a few mages who were guarding the station. They seemed to come from the dark guild.

Natsu studied the bunch of guards. In his eyes they were somewhat weak, especially if they are just guards, who let Erza and Gray enter the station so peacefully. "I'm surprised that they're actually doing their jobs."

"Okay. Time to shine." Lucy shined as she tried to grab a key from her belt. She waved her hands through her belt as she couldn't find the chain that held her keys. She looked dumbfounded as the keys on her were missing. "My keys?" She gasped as a thief arrogantly showed off, her keys in his hand.

"Don't worry Lucy, I got you covered." Natsu yelled as he tossed a silver key towards the blonde celestial mage.

Lucy clumsily caught the key. "Where'- ?"

"Don't ask, we're in the middle of a battle here." Natsu replied as he bashed a few guards away without using magic. Of course he was going to let Lucy do most of the work. If he used his magic right here and now, well he didn't know what would happen. An entire station burnt to cinders? If anything, his magic would probably do more than that...

"Open! Gate of the Canis Minor. Nikora!" Lucy yelled as she held the shiny silver key up to the sky.

In front of them, appeared a white snowman looking creature, standing in a weird wobbly fight stance.

No wonder Angel said to sell this key away, it's useless! Natsu thought as most of his options closed.

"So cute!" Lucy squealed as she dropped everything to embrace the celestial spirit. At least she's distracted…

Natsu took this opportunity to hammer down all the opponents in one swift punch. He quickly zoomed towards the thief and stole the keys back and launched the thief miles away. He then returned back to Lucy's side before she even noticed.

Lucy looked up from the celestial spirit and saw all the guards were gone. Before asking questions, Natsu gave her her keys and said "Let's finally move on."

* * *

Upon entering the station, Lucy and Natsu found Erza and Gray stand over someone, wearing looks of the devil. There were also a bunch of beat up people splattered all over the place. To Natsu's surprise there was no blood.

"Who is this?" Lucy asked as she analyzed the stranger. The stranger had blue hair and he wore a couple of rings. A couple of illegal magical accessories she added.

"This guy claims he's the infamous Salamander. But it turns out he was just a fake." Erza grit her teeth. She was really anticipating a fight with the Salamander for she hadn't gone into a real battle in ages. She took out a sword and pointed it towards the fake Salamander's throat. "Any last words?" She hissed darkly.

The fake Salamander held up his hands in fear but a dark smile grew on his face when he thought of an idea. "You can't harm me. If you harm me, something bad will happen."

"Like what?" Erza yelled, the tip of the sword was on the guy's temple.

"You guys saw the trainwreck, right? There were no members on board, right?"

Natsu karate chopped the fake Salamander's head and said "Just get to the point."

"The point is… for the past week, I've been kidnapping a handful of people while I worked with Eisenwald."

"I said get to the point." Natsu repeated loudly while gazing down on the fake.

"I heard a few of those people were part of a guild. A part of your guild, Fairy Tail, right?" The fake Salamander smiled, thinking he got them in his hands.

Erza and Gray pondered on his announcement a bit. It was true that a few of their guildmates have not returned in a while…

Unfortunately for fake Salamander, Erza doesn't take orders from the like of him. If only, he made it worse. The sword pressed into his neck a bit, slowly drawing a bit of blood. The scarlet haired mage only smiled darkly.

"If you don't tell me about their whereabouts… I'll slice you up like mincing meat on a rice platter. If you're lying… Death awaits you sir."

Lucy and Gray turned away, whispering "Scary…"

"I've never heard of mincing meat on a rice platter…" Natsu commented.

However, while checking the guy's tattoos and rings, Natsu quickly realized something about the fake Salamander. "Hey, you're that Bora of Prominence guy or whatever who started to recently kidnap people to later sell them as slaves."

"Yes the pink haired guy is right, I-"

"So you just confessed to being a criminal, well doesn't this make things much easier."

"Wait, wait!" Bora cringed. "Don't you have more pressing matters to deal with? Like Lullaby? Erigor? And possibly other stuff?"

A cold silenced passed by the Fairy Tail members.

"Oh Damn it, I forgot! Gray why didn't you remind me?" Erza dropped her sword and smacked herself. Then she punched Gray.

Gray collapsed as the aftermath of getting punched by Erza the tenth time that day.

With Gray down, she started to thrash Bora down -without losing her composure of course. Natsu didn't dare to say he was holding the flute the entire time, mostly because he was enjoying the scene. He then hid it in his bag, to bring the subject up later.

* * *

An hour later, the rune knights arrived to arrest Bora the other members of the dark guild. Before they knew it, the moon had risen above the horizon and it was a cold night.

They had to walk to Magnolia on foot because the trains weren't working right now.

The group walked on a lone trail, that stretched endlessly towards any destination.

Erza and Gray sulked a bit because they weren't able to complete the mission or meet the real Salamander.

To cheer them up, Lucy decided to tell them more about this Salamander from rumours she heard.

"They say the Salamander had rosy hair and he wore a scaly like scarf like the scales of a dragon. He was also said to be a master of the fire element…"

"Interesting." Gray said.

"Where have I heard that before?" Natsu asked himself, trying to search through his memories. "Hmm…"

The three official members of Fairy Tail looked at him. Natsu had rosy hair… and he wore a white scale like scarf.

They all came to the same conclusion together and yelled in unison "YOU'RE THE SALAMANDER?!" They all pointed at him wide eyed with utter disbelief under the bright moonlight.

"I am?" Natsu asked them. This was news to him.

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO'S SUPPOSED TO KNOW WHETHER HE'S THE REAL OR NOT. DON'T ACT LIKE THE CLUELESS ONE HERE." Lucy blurted out.

Gray narrowed his eyes at Natsu. "It's possible this isn't the guy."

Lucy facepalmed. Sure this guy matched the description, but it couldn't possibly be this guy. _After all, anyone can have pink hair and wear a scaly scarf… Sure…_ She thought sarcastically.

"If you're the real Salamander, then why haven't I seen you use any fire magic?" Erza asked, raising her eyebrow.

Natsu didn't know that the nickname Salamander would possibly give his identity away, heck, he didn't even know if that nickname belonged to him or not. But it would probably be better to show them his magic now than later so that he wouldn't look so suspicious.

"Yeah." Natsu answered, his fist lit up in flames so normally. "I just never needed to use my magic before. You beat up all the mages back there before and left none for me. Well, I guess they were a bit weak for my magic too…"

Erza drew her sword. "So you are the Salamander."

"I don't know." Natsu sighed, befuddled if that was truly the nickname people gave him.

Lucy stood in front of Erza and tried to verbally calm her down. "No this can't be the Salamander. The rumours say that he's an evil mage that works with dark guilds. There's no way a guy like that would introduce me to Fairy Tail so nicely."

Natsu didn't know about Lucy's argument. He just helped her on a whim, nothing more.

"Sure Erza, I'll take your challenge. I'm not sure if I'm the real Salamander you're talking about, but I never back down from a fight." He smirked.

"Wait, we're actually doing this?" Gray asked. Lucy sweatdropped. If Natsu was however the real Salamander, then they were in trouble. He leaves a path of destruction, right?

"Requip, Flame Empress Armour!" Erza shouted as her body suddenly started to glow and her clothes were almost instantly swapped with thick red armour. Her blade also turned into a slightly heavier scarlet sword. "The first move is yours."

Natsu nodded, and he suddenly disappeared, wind blasting away from where he originally was.

"Fast!" Gray and Lucy commented. Their eyes could not keep track with his speed.

Natsu quickly reappeared in front of Erza and his fist was suddenly engulfed with flames. "Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!" He yelled, as the punch swiftly tore through the air, headed for Erza.

The scarlet haired mage quickly raised her sword against the punch, however she was getting pushed back even though she dug her feet in the dirt. _Strong_ , she thought as she leaped away from Natsu.

"As expected from the Salamander." Erza said, while requipping into flight armour.

She drew another blade and prepared an attack.

"STOP!" Lucy yelled and panted worridly. "You guys just destroyed the whole forest nearby in just one attack!"

Erza and Natsu looked over to see what Lucy was talking about. Indeed, a neighboring forest had been burnt down into a crisp… Gray was over there, trying to extinguish the flames with the ice and he was breaking a sweat.

"I'm surprised it didn't burn down that other forest over there." Natsu stated casually, while pointing at a forest miles away in the opposite direction. "Maybe I should've tried…"

"NO MORE BURNING DOWN FORESTS!" Lucy facepalmed. Today she met another mage with unimaginable power. And this guy might actually join Fairy Tail too…

"Oh!" She just remembered. "Here's your key back." Lucy held up the silver key that Natsu gave her.

"You can keep it. I don't use key magic." Natsu shrugged.

"Really? Then why do you have a golden key hanging from your belt?" Lucy pointed at the golden key. She really thought that Natsu could have celestial magic with all those keys he has in his possession, but she just remembered how Natsu reacted to just seeing one of her celestial spirits.

"An acquaintance gave me that silver key. And she forced me to borrow this gold key."

"I've never heard the phrase 'force you to borrow…'"

"Me neither but it happened anyway." Natsu grinned.

After Gray finally finished calming the forest fire down, the group headed towards Fairy Tail.

* * *

When they finally arrived to Fairy Tail, it was already midnight. The moon was covered by clouds and a few bats flew around the sky. Normally, the guild would be closed by then, but surprisingly the barmaid had to stay due to some issues.

The group peeked inside the guild to see what was happening.

They only saw two people in the building.

"Romeo, Macao is a really strong mage, he's going to come back soon. I promise."

There was a small boy with blue hair in front of the barmaid, wiping tears away from his face. "But dad hasn't come back in the last week. Something bad must have happened to him! Mira -san, you have to help him!"

The barmaid called Mira didn't know what to say, and her silence made Romeo run out the door, surprising the bunch who were just eavesdropping at the whole conversation.

After digesting what just happened, Erza walked in and had a little chat with Mira. The three others joined the chat.

"Romeo again?" Erza asked.

Mira sighed and nodded.

"I see… However, we have some other matters to discuss right now." Erza looked at Natsu. "Natsu here wants to join Fairy Tail."

"Oh ho, is he strong?" Mira asked and studied the appearance of Natsu.

"Very." Erza gave her her word.

"Yeah, he accidentally burned down a whole forest with just one fire punch." Gray commented.

"Not to mention he has magic I've never seen before…"

* * *

Natsu wasn't really keeping up with their conversation. For him, time seemed to stop as waves of nostalgia began to crash into him.

This building felt so familiar to Natsu but he did not recognize it for this was really the first time he actually stepped in the building.

The feeling was so intense but the memories of this place was drawing a blank. It was like he was missing a part of his life until now.

"Fairy Tail." The words just came out without him realizing it. He racked his brain, trying to discover any memories about this place. Blank. He could remember about what happened four hundred years ago, but he could not remember a guild called Fairy Tail.

The feelings of nostalgia were passionate but his memories of this place were empty. It made him feel lightheaded.

It actually hurt his mind to not remember something that made his heart skip a beat. Purehito gave him info about this guild but words alone cannot make someone feel like this the moment they step in a room for their first time. It's like this place was etched in his heart but erased from his mind.

Where did he know this place?

For Natsu, the world started to spin around.

 _The feelings always overwhelm one's thoughts._

 _The mind draws blank but the feeling's are always real._

And he suddenly collapsed, tears almost visible from his eyes.

Fairy Tail...

* * *

Natsu woke up, and opened his eyes quietly. He stared at the ceiling. It was an oddly familiar looking ceiling. He sat up and removed the bed blanket that covered his body. The sun from the window shined on him.

He looked around the room and realized that this room must be an infirmary of some sort. His eyes wondered around until he saw a small old man. He was sitting on a stool right next to his bed. The whole time.

"Looks like the Salamander has finally awoken." The old man said.

"Please don't call me that." Judging from the old man's appearance, this guy was a wizard saint. And he looked like the old man that rampaged all over this guild a few days ago.

"Should I call you Natsu then?"

The fire dragonslayer nodded. "What's your name?"

"I'm Makarov and I'm known as the guild master here."

"Oh." The headache crashed into Natsu's mind again, but he succeeded acting like nothing was wrong with him. Ma-ka-rov. This name didn't seem to suit the old man. So Natsu decided to call this old man 'gramps' whenever he would address him. Wait, gramps is normally a term you give to people in close relationships. Natsu kept mentally hitting his head. He felt like he had some weird case of amnesia that didn't exist.

The old man smiled. "They told me you came here to join this guild."

"Yeah." Natsu muttered, remembering the mission Purehito gave him.

"Haha! Another young youth." Makarov smiled, but then the atmosphere around him turned dark. "But that means…" The old man had a scared look.

Natsu just looked at Makarov confusedly. _Is this old man having second thoughts?_

The old man fled out of the room through a wooden door in silence.

Natsu just stared at the room quietly. Just losing sight of that old man just gave him a sense of loneliness. He also noticed how quiet the area was. If he recalled correctly, Fairy Tail was a guild that was certainly never quiet.

The dragon slayer slid off his bed and walked over to the door. He steadily opened it. Slowly, he quietly passed through the door and found himself in a small hallway. He glanced left and right to see no one. He sighed, what was he acting suspicious for?

But still not knowing how to act normal around light mages, he walked down the hallway stiffly. At the end of the hallway, he found all the mages in the guild collapsed and unconscious. Sleeping to be specific. Natsu halted and stepped back into the shadows. There, he watched a mysterious fully cloaked man, with staves resting on his back, walk into the guild. He noticed the mysterious man's gaze fall on him.

Natsu was caught surprised as he suddenly found the mysterious man disappear and reappear in front of him. There, the mysterious man pushed Natsu back into a wall with a great wave of force and quickly drew one staff from his back and pointed it at Natsu. "Who are you?" The man's voice sounded a bit muffled from the green mask that covered his bottom half of his face.

Realizing what just happened, Natsu just glared at the mysterious man. "Who are YOU?" This time Natsu smacked the staff away and threw a punch to the mysterious guy's stomach, and the guy crashed through the opposite wall. Natsu narrowed his eyes at the man and then to the staff. "Dammit that really shocked me. Oh great, I'm not even a member yet and I already broke one of the walls…" Natsu muttered but didn't really sound like he cared.

The mysterious man just crouched on the floor with his head down. He seemed to finally realize the power that Natsu just hit him with. Avoiding his attention, the mask he wore softly fell off.

Natsu saw the man's face. Blue hair and a tattoo on the right side of his face.

Natsu scoffed, for he was anticipating something more fearsome under that mask. Surprisingly, Natsu was caught off guard again when the building seemed to shake and a loud voice boomed throughout the whole building.

"WHAT IN THE WORLD HAPPENED?"

Natsu cringed and covered his ringing ears as he saw Makarov approach him and the mysterious man.

"Oh." Makarov said as he saw the scene.

Predicting what the old man would say next, Natsu pointed at the mysterious man and exclaimed childishly "He started it."

I DON'T CARE WHO STARTED IT, I WANT TO KNOW IF I'M THE ONE WHO'S GOING TO PAY FOR THE DAMAGES AGAIN!" Makarov yelled.

Natsu was taken aback from witnessing Makarov's attitude. The mysterious man sweat dropped a little and sighed.

Makarov studied Natsu's and the mysterious man's eyes. "Oh, I see you two are just confused."

The mysterious man easily climbed back to his own two feet and stood next to Natsu while covering his face with the mask again.

Makarov smiled "Let me introduce you two to each other. Natsu, that man there is Mystogan, he's an S-Class mage in Fairy Tail. Mystogan, that's Natsu, a new recruit."

Mystogan looked darkly to Natsu. "...Please don't tell anyone my secret."

"What secret? If you mean how you look then you don't need to be worried." Natsu teased.

"Then I'll take my leave now." Mystogan said.

"Don't forget to undo the spell!" Makarov yelled.

Natsu just quietly watched as Mystogan gracefully took his leave.

"5… 4… 3… 2… "

Mystogan completely vanished when he reached the light outside the guild. "1." His voice echoed.

Immediately, one by one, all the Fairy Tail mages who were sleeping previously woke up.

"Thi -this feeling… was it Mystogan?" yelled one of the mages.

"Sleep spell… is so strong." Another mage rubbed his eyes like he just took a morning nap.

"Mystogan?" Lucy wondered out loud drowsily.

"He's one of the strongest mage candidates in Fairy Tail." A brunette boy with shades answered. For some reason the air between him and Lucy was tense as they both jumped away from each other. He continued, with a little nervousness in his voice. "F-for some reason, he hates to be seen, so whenever he comes to pick a job, he puts everyone to sleep."

"WHAT?" Lucy exclaimed.

"That's why only master knows Mystogan's face." Gray said.

"No. I've seen it as well." The room was suddenly hushed as each person recognized that voice.

"LAXUS?" Shouted another guild mate, all faces faced above to the second floor where a light blonde man stood with a smirk.

"Laxus?" Lucy repeated in confusion.

Gray decided to clear up the confusion for her. "That's Laxus, another one of the strongest mages here."

"Don't question it too much. Oh, Gray you're wrong. I'm not 'one of' the strongest mages here. I _am_ the strongest mage here." Laxus said as he turned his back from everyone.

Natsu scratched his head. He was sure meeting a lot of Fairy Tail big shots today…

Before disappearing completely Laxus said loudly. "Oh, Natsu is it? You're pretty interesting too to have seen Mystogan's face at first contact."

Oh great. Natsu's body went stiff. Now this Laxus person gave him all the attention. Plus he just had the sudden urge to challenge the guy, but succeeded in resisting to do anything rash. But now all eyes were on him.

"Uh… hi." Natsu awkwardly smiled and waved.

Everyone wondered as to why there was a mysterious new pink haired boy in the room and why the walls surrounding him were all broken.

"WHO THE HELL IS THAT?" One of the members yelled in confusion.

"Oh Natsu's awake." Gray stated.

Makarov smiled and patted Natsu's back. "This is Natsu, he's a new recruit."

Natsu just sweat dropped as everyone greeted him at once and returned to what they were previously doing.

Everything turned back to normal. Just like that.

* * *

Mira approached Natsu with a smile and introduced herself. "I'm Mirajane, I work as a barmaid here and I have a brother over there whose name is Elfman." Mira pointed at a muscular large man with spiky white hair. Elfman was fighting with another mage and kept yelling "Man, man!"

"Since you're a new member, where would you like to have your Fairy Tail guild mark?" She held a stamp in her hands and kept her smile on.

Natsu didn't really think about guild marks. He could guess he was somewhat prepared to have a Fairy Tail guild mark since he hid his Grimoire Heart mark with a concealing spell. "Hmm…" He thought out loud. But suddenly words just blurted out of his mouth without second thought. "Here and make it red." He said without actually being aware of what he said. Then if things couldn't get anymore stranger for Natsu, his body just moved by itself and pointed to the top of his bare his right shoulder. Natsu didn't really ponder about this strange phenomenon too much because ever since he stepped inside Fairy Tail, all things of stuff had been happening to him.

The moment Mira pressed the stamp on to his shoulder, Natsu saw the world shift for a moment and he heard voices ring in only his head.

" _Natsu-! Look-! She gave me the mark of Fairy Tail" Screamed Lucy's voice in joy._

" _Good for you Luigi." Natsu heard his own voice say._

" _IT'S LUCY!"_

Natsu gasped. He felt like he just experienced a flashback. Which is impossible because he wasn't present at the time Lucy got her own Fairy Tail mark.

"Are you okay Natsu?" Mira asked him out of concern. She saw him stare at nothing for time when she held the stamp against his arm and then out of nowhere, Natsu was sweating and gasping as if he just seen a ghost.

"I-I'm good." Natsu exhaled deeply. _What was that?_

Natsu decided upon himself to act like he was completely normal and sit at an empty table. He happily chugged down a mug of fire to flush away his worries. "Ah, I can't believe this guild actually has this drink!" He smiled.

Lucy invited herself to his table and sat down. "You eat fire?" She asked.

"Yeah! Want to try?"

"I'll pass…" Lucy sweat dropped.

Gray also sat himself at Natsu's table. "So you saw Mystogan's face, didn't you?" Gray wondered in surprise. But maybe he wasn't supposed to act so surprised as he already saw Natsu's power beforehand. "What does he look like?"

"I forgot." Natsu answered as he began to dig his face into a gigantic pile of various kinds of roasted meats. "Mmmm."

Gray sweat dropped. This guy may be powerful, but his intelligence was lacking…

"Oh, I haven't asked yet, but who's that guy who's been staring at Lucy for a while now…" Natsu asked as he gulped down another glass of flames. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the guy with brown hair and blue shades.

"That's Loke." Gray answered, befuddled at Natsu's eating speed. "I think he has a thing for Lucy."

"Really?" Natsu wondered as he saw Lucy's negative reaction to Gray's statement.

"I already crossed him off my list of possible future boyfriends…" Lucy coughed.

"Your list of what?"

"Nothing." She muttered.

Meanwhile Natsu watched Loke's movements. Loke's eyes were actually staring at the golden key that hanged from Natsu's belt.

"Aries?" Loke whispered quietly, but with Natsu's dragon slayer senses, he heard Loke perfectly.

Natsu decided not to call Loke out and just remained silent.

Erza came to the group unnoticed and slammed her hands on the table. It sent shivers to Lucy and Gray. "What is it Erza?" Lucy shivered when she wondered what was wrong now.

"Remember what Bora said about holding a few Fairy Tail mages captive?"

Natsu, Lucy, and Gray nodded.

"I pinpointed their location." Erza said proudly and unrolled a map on the table.

"How?" Gray asked.

"Torture." Erza said as her eyes lighted up and a whip suddenly appeared in her hand.

"Maybe I shouldn't have asked…" Gray sweatdropped.

"Their exact location seems to be… in Galuna Island." Erza stated and pointed at a very specific location on the map, her evil aura growing more. She couldn't stand the fact that her fellow guild mates were being held captive under their noses.

"And..?" Lucy wondered why Erza was sharing this information with them.

"And I want you guys to come with me." Erza finished her sentence as she held a flyer up that had an S class stamp on it. The poster read "HELP. Cure this cursed island."

"WHAT?" Lucy fell out of her seat out of pure shock. "So convenient that there's an S class mission there too…"

"With this, we can kill two birds with a stone. To liberate our friends and to help the poor civilians of this so-called cursed island." Erza smiled like a genius. "Oh, Natsu, you're coming too."

"What?" Natsu leaned back as he was suddenly dragged into whatever was happening.

"Of course you're coming. I was put in charge of showing the newbies around here about how we do things around here in Fairy Tail. So naturally you'll come." Erza smiled.

"Hey! I'm a veteran member here!" Gray popped in.

Natsu slumped back in his chair. When was he ever going to catch a break?

Suddenly the guild doors slammed open and the whole guild was silenced once again.

"Oh Erza-chan. I'm afraid you can't take Natsu with you right now." A voice said of a new character said.

That voice… Natsu turned his head towards the new voice. _Now of all times?_ The dragon slayer sweated nervously. This stranger was a member of Grimoire Heart and also a member of the council. To just walk into Fairy Tail like this is...

"Right now, he has a very important appointment with me."

Erza stood up from her seat and faced the stranger with an evil. "Who are you?"  
The stranger was a woman had long dark purple hair and brown eyes. "I'm sorry to not introduce myself before. My name is Ultear Milkovich from the Magic Council."

"Your business with Natsu is?" Erza narrowed her eyes to the woman from the Magic Council.

"I'm here to arrest The Salamander of course." Ultear smiled.

* * *

Thanks for reading :D

Please Review! :3

Man, I'm on a roll this week, I just couldn't stop myself from continuing to write this. But who knows, tomorrow I might just run out of steam. :P

And as you can see, I'm merging the arcs. One because it gets more unique from the original story. Two because I feel it's less work. Go lazy me xP

* * *

If you're confused about what's going on with Natsu and why he gets memories of things that have not happened in this storyline, well it's supposed to be confusing so don't sweat it. So you can either forget it and only think about it when I explain what's going on with Natsu in a later (a much later) chapter. Or you can theorize it a bit and try to figure out why Natsu got nostalgic of Fairy Tail when in reality this was his first time stepping inside the guild and why he got that strange flashback with Lucy in it. Maybe this paragraph just made it more confusing for you. You're welcome.

Where's Wendy and Gajeel? Sorry, it'll take a while for me to introduce them. xD

* * *

 **Replies to Reviews: (I'm doing this only because I've read other fanfics that thank their readers and I thought I should show some gratitude to you guys :D)**

 **To IndigoWolfie: Thanks! I really love having these kind of positive reviews they just make my day and they make me realize that my story is actually interesting to people other than me. Sometimes I'm one of those people who say "Yes! Someone review my story. YES!" xD But when I say it, I'm loud and proud :D**

 **To Jalis: I like the insight you give on my chapters, it's pretty interesting. The Salamander: Dragon of Calamities... I might use that later in the story, I thank you for that again xD And lastly, you have a pretty interesting guess as to where Happy is. Thanks for the reviews :P**

 **Hey reviewers if you don't like me to give you shout outs just tell me. I don't mind, I just wanted to say thanks. :D**


	4. A Ride with Demons

**Chapter 4**

 **A Ride With Demons**

There was an intense standoff between Erza and Ultear. While Erza glared at the woman with dark fierce eyes, Ultear just smirked at the Titania. Not intimidated at all, if only, she was amused. The entire guild was shaken and surprised down to its core.

Natsu just chugged down another fire drink. There was no way he was going to be caught in the middle of all this, but things never really go his way.

"Arrest Natsu for what?" Erza growled, while every member of the guild cringed in fear and anticipation of what would happen next.

"It's really none of your business. But you should already know what the Salamander is capable of."

Natsu sighed mentally. So he really was the Salamander. Okay…

Erza stepped back. Well she couldn't come up with a retort to defend Natsu.

"Loss for words Titania?" Ultear chuckled. "Well if you don't mind me, I'll be taking Natsu."

Erza growled. She didn't like someone teasing her like this, but she really couldn't do anything. Council is council, even though Fairy Tail messes around with them all the time.

Natsu just rolled his eyes and walked to Ultear's side. "Just get this over with," he whispered.

He noticed how Gray was just staring stiffly at Ultear. "It can't be…" He heard Gray whisper with his eyes locked on Ultear.

"Don't worry. I'll come back." Natsu grinned carefreely.

Most of the guild just looked at him confused. How can he come back if he's going to jail? However, most of the boys had their eyes glued to Ultear, probably thinking about her three sizes and other pervy stuff. Makarov, however, eyed the two suspiciously.

Gray rose up from his seat and shouted "Oi Natsu! When you come back, tell me all you know about that girl!" He pointed to Ultear. Unfortunately, most people in the guild thought Gray meant something else. Gray looked at everyone in confusion as most of the males whistled at him and cheered him.

Lucy rested her head on her arm. This guild is full of pervs…

Natsu followed Ultear outside the guild and vanished into the vast world.

Erza sighed and leaned against a support beam. "Okay Lucy and Gray. Looks like we're doing this by ourselves."

Gray nodded and Lucy just stared Natsu's seat. She looked at a golden key and a small bag that sat there. Looks like Natsu accidentally left his stuff here...

* * *

"Okay, what is all this about?" Natsu tilted his head at Ultear while she tried to set up a camp in the middle of a forest. They were teleported here and for some reason the moon shined purple even though it was morning.

"You might want to cover your appearance." Ultear said while tossing him a dirty cloak.

"You didn't answer my question." Natsu narrowed his eyes at the girl and put on the dirty cloak. He looked up and saw a peculiar purple moon.

Ultear smirked as her appearance slowly started to change into that of an old man wearing a weird tiki like mask. "We're here to revive a demon." She said as an old man with an old man voice. It sounded annoying in Natsu's opinion.

"A demon?" The dragon slayer threw his hood over his face just before a person appeared from behind the shadows of the trees. The person was male with white spiky hair and squinty eyes. He gave off a cold aura. "Who's that?" Natsu asked and pointed rudely to the man.

"His name is Lyo- er rather 'Reitei'. We're going to assist him to revive a demon known as Deliora."

* * *

Lucy and Gray stood at the Hargeon Port, overlooking the peaceful moonlit sea. The ravenette paced around the harbor impatiently with his hands in his pockets. Lucy just sat on a bench, watching Gray act like a pacing idiot.

"Erza's taking too long." He complained.

"Yeah." Lucy agreed, although she knew exactly why Erza was taking too long. The scarlet haired mage was obviously packing her luggage for this mission.

Gray finally stopped pacing and sighed in defeat. He turned to Lucy and saw her toy around with a few items that rest in her lap. "What is that?" He asked.

"Oh, this is just a few stuff Natsu left at the guild before he got arrested."

Gray stared at the items. There was a golden key and a bag. The bag didn't seem to be empty. "What's in the bag?"

"I don't know. I have to respect his privacy, even though I technically did take his stuff without asking. Uh, well only because someone else might take it. I'm just guarding his stuff for him." The celestial mage admitted.

"Why not just take a peek." Gray looked at her dumbly with a hint of curiosity.

"I just said I respect his privacy."

"Come on." Gray pleaded. "This could be our one chance to actually learn some secrets about the guy."

"Everyone has their secrets for a reason." Lucy shrugged and turned away. The ice make mage was also silenced for a while. However that didn't stop his stubbornness so he snatched the bag away from Lucy.

"Hey!" Lucy shouted as she tried to grab the bag back.

"It's probably going to be nothing much." He waved Lucy's concerns away and opened the bag. The only contents in his bag was a wooden stick with holes a few silver coins. "What the heck is this?" He thought out loud and grabbed the stick out of the bag.

Lucy stared wide eyed at the item, recognizing this mysterious item immediately, and covered her mouth. "A wooden flute with a skull with three eyes engraved at the top. That's lullaby!" She exclaimed in shock.

"Lullaby?" Gray turned the flute around to get a closer look at it. He was too distracted by the flute that he didn't notice a silhouette of a man approach from behind him. "Why would Natsu have this?"

"Look out Gray'!" Lucy shouted as she realized the man come up to Gray.

Gray turned around quickly but was too late as a heavy blunt object bashed his head down hard and forced him to faceplant onto the concrete ground. It felt like the object was made of iron or something.

Lucy jumped up and prepared to summon one of her celestial spirits. But the silhouette disappeared quickly and left one word to quietly ring through the night sky.

"Heartfilia." It echoed.

Lucy collapsed in emotional defeat. She crawled to Gray to check on him. "Are you okay?" she whispered with concern showing on her face.

Gray's ears were ringing and his vision blurred as his blood rushed towards his head rapidly. He held his head in pain but still tried to act cool. "That was a surprise…" he admitted and realized the bag and flute were no longer in his possession. The silhouette must have taken it, he thought.

Erza finally appeared, walking to them casually while carrying a giant cart of luggage. She saw both of her guild mates on the floor with dark looks.

"Did I miss anything?" She wondered.

The two sweat dropped as they stood up and explained what happened to the deep red haired mage.

Upon hearing what the two had to say, Erza's head started to steam and she clenched her hand in anger. "Natsu had Lullaby this whole time? When he get's back from jail I'll kill him!"

"It could just be some misunderstanding." Gray tried to calm Erza down.

But she didn't take any of it. So as usual, she landed the hammer down on Gray's head and he was smashed to the ground again. "Ow…" He groaned.

Erza's eyes flashed and she turned and stomped her foot into the ground. She pointed to nearest fisherman and ordered menacingly. "Take us to Galuna Island. Now!"

The fisherman sweated in fear but obeyed the demanding woman in armour. Gray and Lucy were helpless as Erza dragged them on the boat owned by the fisherman.

* * *

The dragon slayer sighed as he stared directly at the strange purple moon. Ultear had put him in charge of taking care of a few ships that were docked on the island. Apparently those ships were run by pirates and dark mages who were holding a few people captive. Normally in Grimoire Heart, the term to _take care_ meant to completely obliterate. But he remembered Erza talk about a few Fairy Tail mages being held captive on this island. She was probably talking about these ships. He sighed, Ultear was ruining his infiltration mission big time, but orders are orders.

He started to prepare his breath attack and he glared intensely at the poor ships that had no idea what was coming to it. "Fire Dragon's…" He hesitated for a second but shook his mind and proceeded with the attack. "...Roar!" A large burst of flames released from his mouth and streamed to the boats. All the ships were covered in flames instantly and took no patience to burn down. All the people in or nearby the ships screamed. In surprise. In agony. In fear. Natsu was almost as surprised as well… he didn't mean for the blast to be that strong and huge.

They all ran around like ants, trying to save the ships with water magic or anything that could possibly calm the flames but ended up getting burnt instead as the flames grew and extended its reach.

He was _killing_ people. People who were pirates and people who worked with Bora. Possibly innocent people who were abducted. He had done this before but never before had he felt so guilty.

He sighed in relief as most of the people on board made a smart decision to escape into the ocean. As for the prisoners on board who couldn't escape, they were probably goners by now. When most of the people were out of sight, Natsu snapped his fingers and almost all the flames extinguished. A few flames still burned to help him see under the night.

He approached the crisp ships in utter surprise. There was no sign of charcoal bodies. There was actually a small area on the ship that was left almost untouched by flames and there was a small group of people who lay unconscious there. Most were untouched or a little burnt. However there were three particular people who were more seared than the most. It looked like those three protected the others in some way by using a magic that slightly blocked Natsu's. Their clothing was burnt and ripped to reveal guild marks.

Marks of Fairy Tail.

* * *

"Hey old man. I know Erza kind of demanded that we board your ship, but you could've refused." Gray sympathized for the fisherman.

"It's fine." The fisherman smiled. "My name is Bobo, I once lived on that island. But I escaped from that cursed place."

Lucy shivered in fear. Cursed? Why was she always getting dragged into this kind of stuff?

"We're here to lift the curse of that island." Erza said while polishing her sword on the swaying boat.

"Can you guys really get rid of the curse?" Bobo said in a dark tone. " _THIS DEMONIC CURSE?_ " He voice actually turned crooked as the wind hit him and his cloak flew back which revealed his arm. His _arm._

His arm wasn't humane at all. It was a coal black and spikes and swirled off of it like it was peeling off. The group stared at him in surprise. They were not expecting that.

Over the horizon appeared a small outline of the island. Galuna Island.

"Hey old man…" Lucy started, but the old man was nowhere to be seen. "Where is he?" She exclaimed wide eyed once again.

Erza didn't pay attention to the disappearing old man but watched as a giant beam of fiery light appeared at the coast of the island. "What is that?" She wondered and the others turned to see what Erza was talking about.

Indeed, there was a hot colored ray that exploded on the coast of the island. They didn't pay attention to what the ray was aiming at, but they were worried for their own good. As the ray made contact with the surface of the sea, the water was pushed down and blasted back up in the form of a huge tsunami headed their way.

"THE HECK?" Gray screamed as the tsunami rushed towards them at an incredible speed. "How is that even logical?"

"Erza, do something!" Lucy pleaded.

The requip mage just sat in silence, waiting for the tsunami to crash into their boat. This was a really big wave… She stood up and requiped an ordinary steel sword. She stood up on to the very edge of the boat and gracefully sliced the air in the shape of a crescent slash. Even though the sword only looked like it cut the air, the wave was also sliced apart. "Gray! Freeze it now!" She ordered and the sword in her hand disappeared.

Gray did as told and shakily froze part ocean and both parts of the the tsunami. The sliced part of the tsunami froze into a giant wall of ice and gravity did the rest of the work as the ice wall fell and crashed onto the frozen ocean. The ice wall cracked through the frozen surface and plunged into the ocean. Despite its large size, it bobbed up again and floated on the ocean surrounded by many icebergs.

"Okay now can you refreeze the ocean again so we can walk the rest of the distance to the island?"

Unfortunate, the ice mage had already used up most of his magic in order to freeze the first set of water and was now lying unconsciously on the boat. But that wasn't any of their concerns right now. Lucy pointed at the sea as another giant wave rolled over the frozen parts and headed towards them in horror.

Erza sighed and sat down calmly. "Lucy, prepare to get hit by the wave."

"WHAT?" Lucy screamed and ducked with her hands above her head.

The huge wave, along with a few icebergs, mercilessly crawled over them.

* * *

Natsu had finally brought the survivors of the ship on fire incident to the village nearby after a very long process.

First he had to verify to the villagers that he was a member of a guild so they would let him in so he showed them his Fairy Tail mark. Then he had to listen to the chief's talk about them turning into demons and his request to destroy the moon. Of course Natsu accepted without actually listening. Then he, in return for accepting the mission, asked if he could let the survivors of the fire rest here. He sighed because he thought that maybe it wasn't such a good idea to bring humans to a village like that.

He walked back to the coast and looked to see if there was anyone he missed. He looked dumbfounded as he found three familiar people washed on the shore with pieces of boat parts in the sand.

"You've got to be kidding me!" He sighed out loud in stress.

After he carried Erza, Gray, and Lucy to the village and was asked to destroy the moon again, he collapsed in stress under the purple moonlight. "Fairy Tail is going to be the end of me." He muttered ironically. Why did he even do this...

* * *

Gray woke up to find himself inside a traditional old looking tent with numerous other people sleeping. He immediately recognized Erza and Lucy in the tent, still sleeping soundly among the other people who had a few bandages wrapped around their body. Quietly, Gray tip-toed out the tent, to find it was night and the moon was purple. He jumped in shock when an old man approached him, and this old man was purple-skinned with horns and he also had overly sized sideburns.

"Wah!" Gray burst out in shock.

"Tch. Tell your friend to hurry up and destroy the moon already!" The old man ordered and walked away.

"Destroy the what?" Gray then found himself to get hit weakly at the back of his head. "Ow." He turned around to see a dark wavy haired girl with a bikini top and baggy pants had hit him."

"Cana?"

The girl known as Cana smirked. "No time long see."

"Why are you here? You're not S class."

Gray's statement resulted in him getting smacked again. "Don't rub it in you careless pervert!" She yelled and smacked him another time.

Erza walked out the tent and saw Gray and Cana. "Cana you're here?". Erza's mood turned dark. "You're not supposed to be here. This is a place for the S class mages only. You dare defy Master's orders?" A deadly aura rose from her.

"You got it all wrong! I was kidnapped and brought to this island out of my own will. Emphasis on kidnap." Cana sweated as Erza took her fierce glare off of her.

"Oh." Erza realized, while remembering one of her missions in coming here.

"So you were also kidnapped by Bora?" Gray teased.

"Shut up." Cana sighed.

"Then is Macao with you too?"

"Yup, Max is here too."

"Max? Oh I forgot about him." The scarlet haired mage admitted.

"Of course. Everyone forgets him sometimes." Cana laughed earning a look from a dark brownish yellow haired man in the distance. The man was Max and he pointed up to the sky. Erza and Gray looked up and exclaimed how the moon was purple.

"Destroy the moon!". The voice of the large sideburns old man echoed.

"Right…"

"Oh Cana, I have to say I'm thankful to you." Erza bowed in front of Cana to show her gratitude. The brown haired mage was startled, Erza of all people was bowing down to her. She didn't even do anything.

"Wah, t-thankful for what?" Cana nervously shook.

"You did bring us to this village right? The last thing I remember is getting hit by a tidal wave, then the next thing I remember is waking up here in safety. That was your doing, right?" Erza looked at her confusingly.

"That wasn't me. I'm actually in the same boat as you really. I remember the ship I was held in suddenly exploded and I used most of my magic to keep everyone on the ship safe. Then I blacked out, next thing I knew, I was here." Cana shook her head.

"Really? Then who-"

Cana shook her head. "I don't know."

Suddenly, one of the villagers butted in their concentration and squinted at all of them. "I saw the man who brought you here." His voice croaked hoarsely. "Ahem… It was a man who hid his appearance rather shyly. And because it was a man, I didn't really pay much attention. But if I remember correctly, his guild mark was that same as the mark imprinted on your bodies.

"Fairy Tail, right? Well it was red and on his right shoulder. Everything else was obscure but I'm pretty sure the mark was genuine." The villager finished.

Erza and Gray looked at each other in confusion. Was there a guy with a mark like that?

Minutes later...

Lucy was rudely awoken and next thing she knew, she was dragged along a mission to destroy the moon and to destroy some ruins residing near the demon village. She didn't have time to even think of how weird everything sounded so she just accepted her fate for everything in Fairy Tail was strange.

According to Cana, there's a group of people doing some kind of ritual to revive a demon called Deliora at some ruins. Apparently Deliora is trapped in unmeltable ice and the only way to melt this ice is by using some form of weird phenomenon magic called Moon Drip. What most surprised her was after Cana explained everything going on with Galuna Island, Gray just burst off ahead with the most scary look she's ever seen.

Erza yelled after the exhibinist while Lucy watched Gray vanish into the trees. The two girls were now left by themselves and continued their journey to the ruins slowly until suddenly a group of people suddenly appeared with weapons in their hands. There was no intention of peace. This was an ambush.

An ambush that got taken care of by Erza right away.

* * *

Natsu yawned. The last time he slept was like a number some days ago. He sleepily looked around and Ultear, who's disguised as an old man, popped up in his peripheral vision. He sighed and closed his eyes again.

Today, he was stranded on an island with a woman who crossed dressed as an old man, people obsessed with Deliora, demon villagers, and potential Fairy Tail mages who could find out who he was. Today was great.

He rolled onto his side as he saw a strange purple light shine down onto the translucent ice that encased the demon. Natsu knew that this demon was probably already dead or something. Well atleast the physical form was just some sort of empty shell. The real demon is probably… doing whatever. The dragon slayer just didn't tell anyone about it because he didn't want to break anyone's hopes. He cared about people like that. It's also not like anyone would listen to him.

Natsu dozed off into his imagination, into the darkness of his mind. He blocked out all his senses while his mind smoothly carried him from reality.

It felt strangely cold, especially for someone who controlled flames like Natsu. Voices filled with anger and despair echoed throughout the darkness and he couldn't quite make out the voices. Natsu felt a chill crawl up his spine when one voice sounded so determination with a hint of hopelessness rang out of nowhere. Again...

"THIS IS THE END! I..."

"FOOOOL!"

"N..."

"-atsu! NATSU!"

Said person jumped up from his lying position and sweat bullets. "W-what?" He yelled in exasperation.

In front of him was the old man Ultear -yes, he would call her (-or him?) that for the time being.

Old man Ultear smiled. "We have visitors."

Natsu was silenced. By visitors, she meant Fairy Tail. In panic of possibly having his cover blown, he asked "Can I leave now?"

"No." Old man Ultear snapped. "If all goes wrong and the pawns all get defeated, I need you to keep the moon drip ritual going."

"There's no way I'm going to abandon my pride to go kneel at some ritual and act like the weird moon is my God!" Natsu yelled.

"Well your only other choice is to fight Fairy Tail."

"Um… I'd rather leave."

Seeing how the stubborn the dragon slayer was, Ultear left, leaving the words "Prepare for punishment… in the nearby future."

"As if." He scoffed, but his voice soon grew concerned. "What have I gotten myself into?"

The chamber that held Deliora shook and Natsu fell to the ground. He locked eyes with the demon. An idea popped up into his head. Why didn't he think of this before? After all, his specialty was to burn, destroy, and to get all fired up.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading :D**


	5. Frozen Water is Ice

**Chapter 5**

 **Frozen Water is Ice**

Gray had wandered deep in the ruins, yet there was no sign of Deliora. Like how hard was it to find a giant demon around these parts? He sighed until he found a room completely frozen.

Curious, he entered the room to find a frost haired man standing in the middle of the room. "Lyon?"

"We meet again… Gray."

At that, the room temperature dropped significantly.

* * *

Just in front of the temple stood Erza, Lucy, Cana, and Macao.

At the entrance, they saw a small man wearing some sort of traditional mask. "Oh ho, I didn't expect Titania to be here." He said with a mocking tone.

A tick mark appeared on Erza's forehead. Something about this man just made her feel irritated. As irritated as the time she was confronted by Ultear just a few days ago. "Who are you?" She shouted.

"You think I'll tell you? Ha! You're funny." Said the small man. Suddenly the ground beneath the Fairy Tail maged shook and split with plants and trees erupting from the earth from sapling to tree. It caught them off guard and the old small man retreated into the temple.

"Damn him." Erza muttered as she dodged each of the growing trees. Fortunately, in seconds, the ground calmed down and the plants stopped popping from it. Quickly, Erza decided to split up in groups.

"Macao, come with me into the temple. Lucy and Cana, climb the temple to stop the ritual. Now, go!" She ordered.

The group split up, not giving a second thought to their missing member, Max. (Where was he anyway?)

Following Erza's perspective, the two chased the old man whilst dodging his 'time arc' magic. Poor Macao, being old meant his body wasn't as flexible and agile as his younger years, so he repetitively got hit by the causes of time arc magic. For example, he got caught in collapsed flooring, falling ceiling and debris, and etc. However, Erza was having none of it. Whatever the man threw at Erza, she either sliced it or dodged it.

"Is that all you can do?!" Erza yelled.

"Of course not, Titania. I'm just stalling."

Erza felt more irritated than ever, and her slicing speed rapidly increased, while the man whistled and secretly led her to Deliora's chamber.

* * *

Finally finished with climbing the ruins, Lucy and Cana found themselves facing off with three strange people. There was a man with oversized eyebrows, a woman with dark pink hair, and a dog man thing…

Cana smiled while she took out a few magic cards, ready for a battle. "Seems like we're lucky, Lucy."

"L-lucky? How? It's two against three, the odds are in their favor." Lucy pointed out, with a nervous look.

"We're lucky because it's _only_ three against us." Cana said while carefully eyeing her opponent's movements. "There was supposed to be this giant rat with them too, I'm glad they got rid of it. I just couldn't stand the sight of that unsightly rodent." Cana made sure to say this statement loud enough for the girl in pink hair and bondage to notice, also known as Sherry.

"DON'T YOU DARE INSULT ANGELICA'S APPEARANCE!" Sherry yelled angrily at Cana.

"Anyone in their right mind would agree with me. Have you smelled that beast's breath?" Cana jeered while throwing one of her cards to land in front of the large eyebrows man, also known as Yuka. "Lucy, take care of the dog man, I'll take care of the other two."

Lucy nodded worriedly as she caught the dog man's attention. "Um hey, Dog man…"

"My name is Toby, NOT dog man!" Yelled the dog man but does not move due to it being necessary to complete the ritual of moon drip.

Meanwhile, Sherry and Yuka smirked at Cana. "Are you sure about that, two against one?"

"Yup, two against one alright." The drunk smiled as she pointed at the card in front of Yuka. "Sexy Lady Card!" She yelled as the card portrayed the image of a woman in a bikini, that woman slowly came to life, indecently showing all her curves. Yuka, being a stereotypical man who gets easily attracted to very attractable women, froze in place and fainted.

"Yuka!" Sherry exclaimed, but found that Yuka might not wake up from his perverted dreams in a while.

"Two against one alright." Cana smirked and immediately threw a few more cards at Sherry.

Meanwhile, with Lucy and Toby…

Lucy used her "Lucy Kick!" in order to knock out Toby who was in the middle of doing the ritual.

Toby was knocked out immediately.

"Yes!" The blonde exclaimed as she successfully stopped the ritual. She looked over to Cana to see that she and Sherry were cat fighting.

The ground violently shook more, causing cave ins and rocks to fall. Natsu paid no attention to these quakes as he hurriedly burrowed into the ground. "This should do it." He said to himself.

He was located directly beneath Deliora's ice shell. What he was going to do? Well he was going to shatter the shell from the base of course.

* * *

 **~With Gray and Lyon…~~~**

"LET GO OF ME YOU BASTARD!" Lyon screamed as he tried to escape from Gray's grip.

"No you're crazy, do you want to die?" Gray snorted.

"I Need To Surpass Ur!" Lyon screamed again.

"Yeah, yeah. Stop acting like a kid."

In Lyon's hands, he created a tool out of ice without Gray noticing.

"Don't stop me!" He pleaded while aiming the tool that was as sharp as a knife.

"I'm not going to stop you." The Fairy Tail mage rolled his eyes.

"What?"

"I'm going to help you revive Deliora. So your chances of dying is a bit lower."

"WHAT!" Lyon, being caught off guard checked to see if Gray was bluffing. "You're lying!"

"I'm not." Gray lied. Of course he was lying, too bad his old companion was too obsessed with Deliora to recognize his lie.

"You're not?" A creepy dark aura arose from behind the two ice mages. Immediately recognizing this dark feeling, Gray shook and along with Lyon, looked at who was behind him.

Erza.

Oh crap we're dead, Gray thought.

"Did I hear you right? You're siding with _them_?" the redhead tensed, causing large shivers to crawl up both ice mages. Which is weird for the ice mages, they should almost never shivers since they should be accustomed to the cold. But these weren't shivers from temperature, the cause was fear.

"Of course not!" Gray shot his hands up to act innocent. He knew Lyon heard him blurt out the truth, but none of that mattered now that Erza was here. Tsk, he hated relying on other people.

"I wouldn't relax so much, _Gray_." When she said the word Gray, Gray knew his mistake.

Before him, Erza started to transform into the form of a small man wearing a weird mask.

Gray stiffened when he realized he was tricked and now this sneaky plan of his was going to go to waste.

"Lyon, don't get fooled by the boy. Well, I got to go, see you boys." The man laughed as he left the room. As soon as he disappeared from vision, the real scarlet haired demon appeared and ran after the small man at a mighty speed.

"Lyon-" Gray started, but found himself coughing out blood. He looked to see that lyon stabbed his chest with a blade made of ice. "You…"

"Did you really think I would be fooled by you?"

Well, yeah, you seemed almost convinced just before that old man showed up, Gray thought but wasn't able to speak. "You… -eed help…" He choked out.

"Shut up." Lyon whispered while forcefully taking out the weapon from Gray's body. "Deliora will revive today and I will destroy it."

Gray fell over on to his knees and held his wound painfully while the other ice mage just laughed hysterically.

"DELIORAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA HA HA! I'm coming." He laughed manically.

* * *

With eyes of fury, Erza violently chased the old man, not noticing that Macao got caught up in some mess a while ago. "Stop running!" She yelled but the old man kept prancing around whilst fleeing from the scarlet haired mage.

Erza wasn't one to lose her patience too quickly, unless if it was about her strawberry cake. But something about this diminutive man just made her feel irritated.

"Requip! Fleet Armour!" Erza's body started to glow while her clothes suddenly changed into that of a cheetah print outfit.

It was only in a matter of seconds until she caught up to the weird small old man and subdued him.

"Got you!" She exclaimed.

But the old man creepily smiled. "You're too late." He laughed.

Only until now was when Erza realized that she was located in a cavern of some sort. A purple light from the ceiling shined down on some sort of giant rock of ice that was melting rather quickly. She quickly deduced that that was the ice Cana was talking about that trapped Deliora.

She pointed her sword to the old man's throat. "How do I stop it?" She asked demandingly.

"You can't. In a matter of seconds, the moon drip from the ritual will thaw out Deliora and the demon will make a full revival."

The Titania laughed menacingly. "Don't underestimate Fairy Tail." The minute she said that, the casted purple light on Deliora slowly disappeared and at that, she knew that the ritual was stopped.

"Can't I rely on people for once? Damn." The old man was quiet for a bit. "My plans may be foiled for now, but-" He was interrupted by a disturbing sudden tremor.

"What was that?"

* * *

Natsu cursed silently. It appears that ever since he stepped foot on the island, his magic has been acting weird. It could possibly be the effect of the purple moon, or maybe it wasn't. For example when he tried to burn the ship just a day ago, he had only meant to shoot a little fire at it, not a giant blast of flames the size of oblivion. And now, he was experiencing difficulty just producing enough fire power to light up his hand. Damn this island was weird.

He kept punching the ice from the bottom, only managing to make the ice to jump a bit and causing slight tremors. His original plan was to shatter or melt the ice, if this plan succeeded, then he wouldn't have to fight Fairy Tail nor complete a stupid ritual. But since his magic was acting strange, he was attacking the giant ice rock with his bare fist.

Annoyed, he thought about a certain day he experienced when he was training in Grimoire Heart. This only made him more annoyed and angry, however he unknowingly set his entire body ablaze and hit the ice one more time.

Just that one hit, caused the entire ice to blast off vertically and crash through all the ceilings above it.

He stared up, to see giant holes in the ceiling and the sky a mile away.

"Oh right, Flames of emotion, I forgot…" He said to himself while everything started to look hazy.

He lost his balance and fell over. Maybe this move accidentally used up all his magic...

Witnessing the iced Deliora just suddenly blast up abruptly and so unexpectedly just temporarily shocked Erza and the old man/Ultear. It blasted through the rocky ceiling of the caverns, only a massive amount of power would be able to cause an object of that mass to easily burst through the air.

They both successfully hid their surprise but were still speechless. Who was the cause of this? -The question that went through both of their minds as they inched closer to the crater Deliora was previously in.

They found a hooded man

* * *

"Now if you don't mind me, I'm going to finally destroy Deliora once and for all." Lyon said with cold confidence.

Gray laid down in a small puddle of blood. "You can't. You'll just die."

Lyon got irritated that Gray was basically say that he was incompetent to challenge Deliora.

"Look here Gr-" He was interrupted mid-sentence when the floor behind him suddenly cracked and rose while a giant shell of ice instantaneously emerged from it and continued to rise past the roof of the ruins. "The what-"

"Deliora?" Gray exclaimed in shock as he watched the ice shell rise and blast a hole in the ceiling of the ruins. Immediately he heard high pitched girl like screams from above.

"Since when could that demon fly?"

* * *

Lucy celebrated as she thought she successfully interrupted the ritual. Meanwhile Cana and Sherry were have a little quibble about a rat named Angelica.

Suddenly, the floor of the ritual suddenly burst and a giant ice thing erupted from the ground, shocking all the mages at the sight. A giant gaping hole now in the ruins. If you looked down from it, you could see numerous other holes in the interior of the ruins.

The Ice shell rose until it hit the sky.

It literally hit the sky as all the mages found the Ice shell make a crack in the sky.

"WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON?" They all screamed in fear and scrambled everywhere. Since gravity exists, that object will soon come down upon them. It was like shooting a pointy arrow up into the sky but worse.

They didn't even pay attention to the fact that the _sky_ shattered in pieces.

"Gate of the maiden, Virgo!" Lucy yelled as she held a key up to the sky. Immediately, Virgo dug a mile deep into the ground.

"Lucy don't leave me with this Diva!" Cana yelled as she, with Sherry, ran for safety from the giant falling object.

Yuka who was seduced by the beautiful sexy woman suddenly woke up and found Toby lying down next to him, unconscious.

"Toby?" He shook his friend until he noticed a giant shadow lock on to his location. He looked up.

"OH MY GO-"

The ice shell fell right on top of them, and crashed through all the levels of the ruins until it reached the bottom, back to Erza's, Ultear's, and Natsu's floor.

Luckily for the three mages, it didn't land on any of them. It would be terrible if someone got squished by indestructable ice. (Poor Yuka and Toby, Sorry :P)

Double luck for old man Ultear, the ice that encased Deliora started melting rapidly until the head of the demon was no longer trapped in ice.

Suddenly the ruins started to shake again and the ice shattered with a loud " **GROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH**!"

"Finally."

Erza still held the tip of her sword pointed at the man's throat. She didn't know how on Earthland the ice shelled Deliora suddenly just jumped up from the where it sat considering how huge it was. But that didn't matter right now, the most important thing at hand was how in the world she was going to defeat this thing.

Natsu hadn't moved from his position yet, which he regretted. Especially when he realized Deliora had reawoken and was staring right at him. "Woah big fella, you're still alive?" He muttered to himself.

" **GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH**!" It roared again while the ruins started shaking again.

The dragon slayer noticed old man Ultear signaling him to get out with hand signals but he couldn't. He actually couldn't escape because he finally found his legs caught up in some debris. That's when it hit him and he felt all the nerves from his leg to his body all connect. He stifled his scream but couldn't help but feel the agonizing pain. This was ironic, after all the harsh training he went through physically and mentally, this could make him scream.

It was probably the side effects of the purple moon messing up with his magic. Lately he's been producing outbursts of enormous amounts of magic accidentally and that's probably why he felt so tired and helpless.

He signaled back to old Ultear with just a plain facial expression. Even though his face was hidden under a hood, it appeared that Ultear understood a bit.

Unfortunately Erza was the first one to react to his situation. "Hey you! Get out of there!" She yelled with a confused tone. She was probably wondering how a man managed to get stuck in the place below where the frozen Deliora was previously standing in.

Natsu tried moving again but a giant shock vibrated throughout his entire body. This should probably be a normal reaction for a normal person, but Natsu wasn't a normal person and he certainly haven't felt something like this before. It was like feeling human. He mentally gave up as he clenched his teeth to restrain his voice within his body.

"- **UUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUR**!"

Suddenly, a giant fist of a demon started heading towards Natsu at an incredible speed.

The dragon slayer braced himself as he started feeling groggy. Hopefully something like this wouldn't mortally injure him.

Just before the fist managed to get an inch close to him, in a swift second, Natsu disappeared. He quickly found himself in the arms of one of his fears. Erza.

The redhead was carrying him bridal style at an immense speed. His fear: His cover getting blown. Natsu quickly pushed himself out of Erza's grasp and unpleasantly crashed to the ground. He groaned in pain and tried to stand up but failed to as his leg disobeyed him and just decided to cause him more pain. He collapsed again when he saw Deliora prepare his next move

" **GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH**!"

His ears rang but that was the least of his worries as he saw all the air get all absorbed by Deliora's mouth, a light sphere started to appear in front of it. _Where was Ultear and Erza?_ he thought to himself but found himself shameful as he actually thought about needing help for even a second. "Just because I'm seriously weakened right now does not mean you can think you can have a chance to defeat me." Natsu's voice darkened as he spat out some blood.

"I'll show you… a demon."

Cana, Lucy, Gray, and Macao regrouped to the mouth of the ruin with puzzled looks with traces of slight unease. Erza was the only one missing but the entrance to the ruins was completely blocked because everything collapsed and caved in.

* * *

 **~With Erza...~~~**

When the man who she saved just suddenly pushed her away, she lost balance and tumbled down a tunnel created by the constant shaking. But rather than climbing back up to where Deliora was, she decided to follow this tunnel. Her intuition told her that something possibly more dangerous than Deliora was down this tunnel.

Plus, she could probably take care of that Deliora later.

It was half dead after all.

* * *

Natsu sternly stared at Deliora right in the eye. Despite his leg being totally broken right now, he used it as a boost to make him jump at a split of a second. He winced but beared with it. This was only going to take one hit.

Deliora had no time to react to his speed either. Natsu was going to deal a direct blow to the demon head on, literally.

It was like a giant rock at the speed of a bullet hit the bull's eye of a giant target. This is where you could get a High Score on a video game. This is where Natsu got his skull cracked…

" **GRRRRRRRRRRRR**." The demon scowled but not as loud as his previous roars.

Natsu grinned with blood pouring from his forehead. "That's right! A true demon… wouldn't used even a quarter of his strength to defeat a second rate half dead demon like you…" He whispered to himself while his blood dripped off his body. But fortunately it seemed that his magic was turning back to normal, just very very slowly.

However, he was going to need time to recover from this though. He collapsed, his back against the ground. He noticed how Ultear was no longer around, he was going to have to have words with her later. But for now, he was going to rest.

 _Crack. Rumble. Rumble._

Wait, Natsu was going to put a raincheck on rest, it seemed that there were people trying to get to this location. They were probably the Fairy Tail mages.

He sighed as he shakily stood up. A wall a few kilometers away from him blasted open and revealed Lucy and Gray. The two mages saw him but were more astonished at the fallen demon behind him. Gray rushed passed him as Lucy offered to help Natsu who still hid his face and body with a thick black cloak.

Natsu didn't reply to her because just speaking could reveal his identity.

The celestial mage looked at him confusedly. This guy was clearly heavily injured and he obviously needed help. She stepped back realizing something about this guy.

"No way, are you the one who beat that demon over there?" She asked in shock.

Natsu still couldn't answer, and instead he started limping off to the exit. He slipped a few times but continued onward. While doing so, he also felt a pair of eyes watching him.

Behind him, he heard Gray fall down to the ground with soft sobs.

"Ur…"

The dragon slayer temporarily froze when he heard Gray. He remembered hearing Deliora roaring in a rampage the word _Ur_ and _Gray._ It was probably none of his business now, the demon is dead and the past is gone.

Suddenly again, the earth started to shake again. Natsu whipped around to see the demon still active. He cursed under his breath and Lucy gasped. While the demon was trying to get back up again with soft grumbles, they saw Gray stand up and pose a weird stance. He stood tall, legs apart and crossed his arms.

"Gray, what are you doing?" Lucy shouted.

"I'm going to stop this! This is the end!" He shouted. His dark blue eyes told of determination with a hint of hopelessness. This scene seemed to feel familiar to Natsu.

All instinct and nerve told Natsu to go stop Gray from doing whatever he was doing. And he did. He quickly limped ahead of Gray and stood in front of the ice mage defiantly.

"Get out of the way!" He bellowed.

"No." Natsu croaked, hoping this voice crack and all the commotion disguised his true voice.

"Get out! There's no other way to stop Deliora!"

Natsu was quiet for a bit. "You're a fool. Just stop." He ordered.

Gray stopped, he couldn't get a normal person get caught up in this spell.

Then, Deliora roared again, but stumbled as its body started falling apart and turning into dust.

The rocks around the demon rolled, revealing an unconscious Toby and Yuka.

"What?" Gray whispered as he inspected the dead Deliora and the water around it.

This was finally Natsu's time to leave so he did. He may have been slow and limped, but his exit seemed cool as no one spoke in his presence for the rest of the time.

He finally saw the broad daylight as he got out of the shadows of the ruins. He glanced at his surroundings and found Ultear in her normal form.

"Thanks for the help." He grunted while everything still looked blurry.

"Sorry, I was analyzing something." She shrugged. "Well let's go back to the mainlands, shall we?"

"Sure." Natsu stared at the women with doubt. "Ultear…"

"What?" She wondered.

"I know what you're doing and I'll warn you. Don't go any further than this." Natsu's voice darkened.

"You found out? I'm just trying to help. That's what friends do."

"Since when were we friends?" He hissed and followed Ultear. They walked the rest of the way in silence.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. :D**

 **I'm not one with writing details clearly so if anyone doesn't understand, I write this here. I thought with what happened with the iced deliora was a bit confusing and I'm still incompetent enough to clearly explain it but here: So imagine Natsu punched Deliora and it crashed through multiple walls. Imagine that happened but vertically. So basically Natsu uppercut Deliora and Deliora was sent flying through multiple roofs. I think that explained it better. Maybe I just confused you guys more. Don't worry, it's not an important detail that you would need to know for the story in the future.**

 **That end bit with Natsu and Ultear: It's supposed to be confusing.**

 **(This is my inner critic speaking) If there's anything that's actually confusing, just tell me and I'll clear it up.**

 **Replies to reviewers:**

 **Jalis: I disagree with you on that Lucy bit, but everyone has their opinions. I wasn't going to give it to her right away, that key is Aries' and Aries still has a contract with Angel so Lucy can't exactly use that key. Just clearing that thing up xD. Next, I have never Fire Dragon's Afterburn and I am caught up with the manga. And this implies that since the move is from the recent manga chapters, it means this is a move that Natsu would use a million arcs away from the current arc this fanfiction is on right now. (If that make sense.) Okay I confused myself, what I'm trying to say is that Natsu shouldn't be able to use that move yet since this really only the beginning -unless you found out the secret of Natsu in this story. :P Oh, but warning: I'm not going to read Fairy Tail, or any manga, for until late March. So don't say anything past chapter 471. :P**

 **IndigoWolfie: Yay, they _stopped_ the ceremony, kind of. At least they defeated Deliora, kind of. XD. Don't mind the multiple kind of's in this line.**

 **Sophia the daughter of Nyx: Thanks. XD. Sorry that's all I have to say other than: you don't need to have a theory right away. My idea isn't even that clear and it doesn't make too much sense. I just ask you guys because it helps me in this writing. It doesn't matter what theory it is, I'll get an idea off of any. But you don't need to think of any theory, all I ask is to read and review, and to criticize.**

 **DraigTrueEmperor9: Well if you're reading this chapter then I will say this. No, no pairings. Just friendship all the way. Possibly some fluff along the way.**

 **Oh one more big thing. Happy Winter! :D**


	6. Checkpoint

**Chapter 6**

 **Checkpoint**

"Thank you, thank you very much!" The demons greeted the Fairy Tail mages with a party.

"No problem, but we needn't all this. After all, we weren't the ones who actually returned you all to your original forms." Erza admitted, with a notebook held her hands.

"Aw, come on Erza, we could use some money." Cana smiled, drunk.

"And the key, we need the key!" Lucy begged.

"Hey, isn't anyone going to congratulate me for defeating that giant rat all by myself?" Max wondered out loud but was ignored.

After looking at everyone's pleading faces, Erza sighed in defeat. "But we'll only take the key."

"Yes!" Lucy cheered as the others slumped over and groaned about not getting the cash reward.

"Oh yes, yes. That is fine. The young man from before already took the cash, we just wanted to get this key out of our possession."

"..." The Fairy Tail mages all looked at each other.

"What young man?" They all blurted out except Erza.

"Uh, you know the guy who broke this curse. The other Fairy Tail wizard who never showed his face?" The old man with large sideburns said.

"You mean that guy?" Lucy and Gray thought as they remembered the cloaked man back at the ruins.

* * *

"We're on land now, you don't need to act so sick anymore, Natsu." Ultear said. They were indeed both back at Hargeon.

"If you would heal my wounds even a bit, I wouldn't act or look like a walking corpse." Natsu hoarsely said.

"Aw, don't act so grumpy. At least you can go back to that Fairy Tail now." She smiled.

"Ugh, could you atleast get me a different cloak, this one is all bloody and torn."

"Sure."

Once Natsu and Ultear parted ways, Natsu took the train back to Fairy Tail. Already, he could feel his untreated wounds aching worst when the train speeded its way to Magnolia. On the train, he decided to reminence about Grimoire Heart. There wasn't a single happy memory in it.

Natsu never got along with Ultear very well. Well he didn't really get along with many of the members of Grimoire Heart.

In Grimoire Heart, everyone was heavily isolated. Well maybe not everyone, but Natsu was definitely a lonely kid when he joined this dark guild. The only time he would actually interact with people was if he had to go on a mission with them, which only happened a few times.

Just when he told Happy to leave, Purehito tried to teach him things like literature and a few languages. Of course Natsu being Natsu, he refused to learn. But since Purehito was so stubborn, he managed to drill some information into Natsu's head. However, all that teaching came to naught when Purehito taught him the wrong language, and since then, Natsu refused to learn from Purehito ever again.

As he grew older, his privileges expanded too. That meant he would actually be able to communicate with the other members. As an optimistic person, Natsu was excited to finally hang out with some people. Soon did he figure out that all the members had tragic back stories and were obsessed with Zeref or the _new world_. Everyone's eyes could look normal, but there would always be that second when theirs turned to lust for blood and they would look insane.

Natsu thought he had the worst backstory of all of them, seeing how he has literally experienced death firsthand, he wondered why he didn't go nuts too. A sane man among the insane is most likely to turn crazy too.

Maybe insanity just couldn't touch him. Demons were not humans, they could always block emotions and mental challenges. Such as why most don't understand love. There's only empty lust, obsession, greed, and et cetera.

Purehito seemed to have feelings of some sort too, but Natsu guessed that the old man had been consumed by too much darkness far beyond help.

Being the only one who wasn't so dark made Natsu feel even more lonelier than usual. Which made him question. Why did he join a dark guild in the first place? Although, one of the only thing this dark guild was successful at was independence and...

Not even the darkness of a crazy dark guild could touch him.

His only goal… is to kill Zeref.

To kill Acnologia.

And to rest in peace.

Surely these goals were dark enough, like each goal involved someone dying, he thought that was dark enough. Although it was possible that Natsu was already at the deepest level of darkness but he himself didn't notice. It was also possible that Purehito was nurturing the darkness inside him without his knowing. If that old man was doing that, then Natsu had to commend that old man for that.

Sometimes he wished that this darkness would enter him. If there was darkness then the feelings would be dead and gone.

Like how the cold can't enter the heart of a flame, a shadow cannot trespass into the light.

However, flames do die, and light does vanish. It just takes a while.

* * *

"Wendy! Come out! Don't be shy." Angel called out. They were in a dark forest with the densest of fogs. They were supposed to search for a certain item but…

"The fogs gusted upwards and returned to being gray clouds in the gray sky.

"I'm right here." Said a monotone voice. Suddenly, Angel found herself caught up in Wendy's trap. A knife was a millimeter close to her neck and an arm wrapped around her waist. She almost jumped but stood firm. "You're a bit slow, Angel." Said a small girl who restrained her from behind.

"No tricks now, Wendy. Get back on track."

"You're no fun." Said the small girl as she drew her knife back and let go of Angel. "So we're supposed to find this special water? Seems like there's no point."

Angel crossed her arms at the blue haired girl. This girl was too dark.

When they found Wendy, she was just a timid little girl who would cry at anything. Now, just after one sample of incomplete Nirvana, the little innocent girl turned into a complete ruthless, coldblooded assassin. Wendy was supposed to have magic that could heal people. But ever since that Nirvana experience, that healing magic was never used or it _couldn't_ be used. Only people who cared would heal other people, but since Wendy was now emotionless to a large extent, maybe she couldn't use healing magic anymore. So now, Wendy changed from acting as a support to an offensive. Meaning, Wendy is a master of the wind and a dagger and can kill anyone with a flick of a finger.

"Well since you can't heal any people anymore, we are forced to get this water for future purposes." Angel sighed.

"Future purposes? Like reviving someone from the dead?"

* * *

With a hidden man...

Okay, so his job was to mess around with Fairy Tail's guild building. A man in all black stood under the dark moon. Just a mile away, he could see the building was already messed up. Looks like his job was already done for him.

Back to Phantom lord then.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading.**


	7. Wounds

**Chapter 7**

 **Wounds**

They were forced to swim back home. Correction: Erza forced them to swim all the way from Galuna Island back to Hargeon. It was horrible.

Erza requipped into a two piece swim suit and swam all the way with no effort. Max and Macao drowned in the water because they weren't used to it, being a fire and sand mage after all. Lucy summoned Aquarius and got swept away by a tidal wave to Hargeon. Gray created an icy path on the surface of the ocean and walked to Hargeon with Cana following him. Either way, once the group arrived back to the mainland, they were all exhausted -except for Erza.

Then it took another few hours to arrive at Magnolia and it was day… again.

The group noticed how the residents all shot them worried looks until they noticed why. Fairy Tail, the guild they all knew and loved, was destroyed.

The building was broken. Giant iron poles were lodged into the building and the roof seemed to be made of charcoal, like it had seen a volcanic eruption.

The group panicked and entered the basement of the building, where they found the guild members resting.

"Master!" Erza shouted with relief but was greeted with a slap on the butt. The redhead clenched her fist. "Master…"

"What, I'm just greeting you guys. Seems like you completed the mission I see. Oh, Cana, Macao, and Max are back. We missed you." Said the drunk master while he started to pat Lucy's butt. The blonde screamed, her face flushed.

"Master…" Mirajane appeared from behind Makarov with a scary aura around her.

"Yes, yes. I'll stop. Now Erza, what were you saying?"

"Is Phantom Lord responsible for this?" She asked.

"Yes, we suspect Phantom Lord was behind this whole mess." The old man answered.

"Why don't we attack them back?" Gray yelled.

"Brat, calm yourself. The building has only been hurt during the night where no one was present. No one was hurt so there is no point in attacking back."

"But-"

"No buts. My orders are absolute, no breaking them now." Makarov snapped.

"Yes master…"

They calmed down and returned to the respective activities. Macao was tackled by his son, Romeo and burst into tears. Max returned to being the unnamed side character and Cana presumed drinking. Erza went over to small light blue haired girl whose name is Levy. She showed her a notebook.

"What's this?" Levy asked.

"These are some characters I found on the walls in some ruins on the mission I was just on. I couldn't read it, but I thought you would be able to."

Levy tilted her head. "Um, I've never seen any kind of writing like this, sorry."

"Oh that's fine. Thank you for your time." Erza said, but sounded a bit disappointed that even Fairy Tail's bookworm couldn't understand whatever these characters were.

"Oh, did Natsu get back yet?" She heard Lucy ask.

"No, he hasn't come back yet." The master shook his head.

"Ugh, where is that flame brain, I need some answers." Gray said.

Suddenly, the guild was hushed when they heard loud creaking echo from the floors upstairs. Then the stairs started squeaking and they heard footsteps come closer to the basement. The guild saw it was a cloaked man that approached from the steps in a limp.

"Who are you?" Erza shouted to the man and pointed a sword at him.

The man held his hands up and his hood fell off. "Woah, it's only me." It was Natsu.

"Oi Flamebrain, you're finally back. Good, I got some questions to ask you."

"What kind of nickname is flamebrain?" Natsu asked.

"It suits you."

"Whatever you say, Ice Princess." The nickname just rolled of his tongue.

From the dragon slayer's point of view, everything was blurry, everything ached, and everything sounded weird. He didn't bother to go to a doctor, and instead just went straight to Fairy Tail. He didn't really have a choice. He didn't want to through the trouble of locating and getting to Grimoire Heart's base and he didn't like doctors. Fairy Tail was the best choice to go to. He had hoped he could just rest and heal in the guild for the time being without having anybody notice his severe injuries. Sure he stopped the bleeding -kind of- but he already lost a lot of blood, his magic was still slowly recovering, his skull was cracked and his leg was still twisted. Despite the fact that he needed serious help, he wouldn't show weakness because he just hated to have people worry about him.

However, he wouldn't be able to keep up this _healthy_ act if a certain red head tried to kill him. In front of him, he saw Erza with a dark aura swirling around her. The killing intent from her was obvious and her eyes showed that she wanted to kill someone. Someone like Natsu. If they got into a fight, he would not survive.

Natsu was already broken and tired, so he braced himself and walked past Erza over to an empty table. He slumped at table, groaning at how painful this was. His guildmates just thought he was tired.

Natsu could feel Lucy, Gray, and Erza sit at his table and they all stared at him.

"What?" He groaned again.

"Like I said, I have questions." Gray said with a tone of worry.

 _They don't need to be so worried about me,_ Natsu thought, after all they only knew each other for roughly a week or two. "What is it?" The dragon slayer asked.

"Who's this Ultear?"

No reply.

Gray's voice quieted. "Why did you have Lullaby?"

The question struck him hard, hard enough that Natsu was sure one of his wounds reopened. He cringed, he completely forgot he had that flute demon. "I don't know what you're talking about." Natsu replied and his face cringed. He just realized that not only Lullaby was missing, but the key that was given to him was also gone. _Well... Sorano had it coming,_ he thought.

"Yes you do, we found it in your bag." Erza tensed out her words.

"Well I found it on one of the mages at that train accident, if you still remember." He said the truth. "I didn't know it was Lullaby so I just kept it because it looked… important." Well, that part wasn't the truth.

The three seemed convinced by his story and he sighed in relief.

"Next question: Where's your guild mark and what color is it?" Lucy asked.

"Red and on my right shoulder, why?" Natsu seemed a bit confused. That didn't seem important at the moment. But for some reason they all looked at him with interest.

"Were you at Galuna Island for the past week?"

"No." It was a quick answer. It was a lie though.

"Then where were you?"

"Jail."

Mira came up to them after hearing this interrogation. "Really Natsu? I went to the council and visited prison to check on how you were doing. Thing is… you weren't there."

Busted. Natsu groaned and rested his head on the table. "Just let me rest." He closed his eyes. However, no one seemed satisfied with Natsu's lack of communication. If he really was the man at Galuna Island, then...

They suddenly heard a loud _bang_ , he perked his head up as the guild was quiet again. Everyone's eyes watched the stairs as they saw a tall old lady with pink hair walk down the stairs with a grumpy look. She shot them all a look of annoyance and they all continued talking and drinking.

The old lady looked like she had something important to talk to Makarov about but she halted in her steps when she saw Natsu.

 _This must be Porlyusica,_ Natsu thought while questioning himself why he knew that.

"Is this a new member?" Porlyusica asked, earning looks of curiosity.

"Yes he is, His name is Natsu." Makarov smiled.

"You never cease to recruit reckless idiots in this guild."

"Excuse me?" Natsu coughed, and felt the old lady's eyes' glaring at him. He had a bad feeling about this.

This caught Gray and Erza's attention and they just silently watched as Porlyusica approached Natsu.

"I'm talking about you and what you're hiding _Natsu_." Porlyusica hissed.

Natsu turned around to see Porlyusica just a foot away from him.

Without warning, Porlyusica ripped off the cloak Natsu was wearing to reveal bandages covering his entire upper body and a part of his right leg. The bandages seemed like they were put on by an ameture. Natsu gulped as he reeked of death and Porlyusica glared at him. Others gasped at the sight and the stench of death while others gave him a look of worry.

Natsu grunted as the world spun like it always did every few minutes, but he kept his eyes on the old lady.

"Natsu, are you okay?" Gray shouted.

"Yeah... I'm fine." Natsu stammered as he tried to smile but failed as he saw Porlyusica's deadly stare suddenly fade as well as everything else in his vision. His balance seemed to go out of control as he didn't know which was up and down, right and left. "Don't worry…" He tried to say but felt his eyelids close and everything was numb.

"Natsu!"

* * *

Natsu woke up and found himself resting on a soft bed in a room that smelled of medical herbs and such. He could feel bandages tightly wrapped around his head.

He tried to sit up but the strain was too much and he forced himself to stay confined in the bed. He groaned and noticed a new scent enter the room. It was a very familiar scent but he couldn't place his finger on it. He opened his eyes to see a cat with pure white snow approach him with wings, carrying a new basket of bandages and herbs.. She looked like Happy's species.

"Carla…" He blurted out again with no thought.

The cat looked at him suspiciously. "How do you know my name?"

Natsu groaned. It happened again and he didn't know why. "I just seem to know a lot of things…" He paused as the name reminded him of something. He remembered six years ago that Wendy wanted to name her cat something like that. "Do you by any chance… know a girl named Wendy?" He forced out of his lungs. Everything was still sore but better. Guessing by how hungry he was, he was probably out for at least two days.

The cat dropped the basket. "You know Wendy?"

"We were old friends, back before… you were born, I think…" His voice seemed to get raspier and sounded horrible. Carla understood this and stopped asking questions. She proceeded to pick up herbs.

Natsu wondered why Wendy wasn't here. If he remembered correctly, Wendy and that egg were inseparable.

Suddenly, Porlyusica and Makarov burst into the room while having a contentious argument.

"I will not have you talk to my patient at this time." The old lady snapped.

"I just need to know what happened with Natsu. He's one of my children now, I'm not going to turn my back on him when he just joined." Makarov sighed.

"Why are humans so stubborn?" She complained while throwing her arms up to show how annoyed she was. She huffed. "I'll give you a moment."

Natsu's mind was stuck thinking about the old man's words. ' _He's one of my children now._ ' He would reflect on those words later.

He opened his eyes again and saw that Carla was still here, deep in her thoughts. Just a few feet away was the old man.

There was a minute of silence until Natsu started talking first. "I didn't mean to worry you guys."

"It's okay. It's normal for a family to worry about one another." Makarov said.

There is was again. _Family_. It made Natsu uneasy. "Please don't say that." He blurted out.

"Say what?" Makarov asked.

"Family, children, people, Gramps. Stop, it's not normal for me." The words were just pouring out his mouth and these words expressed how he thought. It felt like he was a small kid in the face of a therapist who just listens.

"How is that so wrong?" The old man pouted with a look of worry.

This man was going to make Natsu explode. He hated when people showed feelings for him just because they cared. It was just so weird for Natsu. He hadn't felt feelings like this since four-hundred years ago or just seven years ago, whichever sounds more logical.

"Just don't." Natsu sighed.

"Alright. Can I ask you what happened?"

"No."

"Okay, I'll be going now." Makarov then turned around and left.

Silence.

Thoughts of selfishness poured into Natsu.

He wished the old man was stubborn with him.

He wished he didn't keep refusing whatever everyone around him said.

He wanted to be part of the family again.

 _Again_.

What the hell did he mean again?

He dug his head under his bed covers in irritation only to realize he has been crying for a while. He was crying over something like this? This wasn't like him at all. First his body was broken now his mind is starting to shatter.

Why was he so weak?

"Crying doesn't mean you're weak. It just means you have been strong for too long." The voice belonged to Makarov. He was still here.

"Shut up old man. What makes you think I'm crying?" Natsu growled.

Natsu sucked up his breath and sighed, Fairy Tail is such a weird place with weird people. But maybe that's what he thought because he lived in a dark guild that rarely showed any emotions for a while. But that old man read his thoughts, he didn't know old people could be so wise sometimes.

 _It_ was all going to happen again, so why even bother? Natsu yelled in his thoughts.

He silently tried to figure out what all these emotions meant until the old man started to hear snores from the bed.

Makarov smiled.

* * *

Makarov quietly closed the door and met Porlyusica whose temper has cooled down a bit.

"Where'd you find that kid?" She asked.

Makarov inhaled for a few seconds. "A week ago, he came to the guild with some of the members and said he wanted to join. Although, after the events of today, I see he has a habit of collapsing out of nowhere."

The old healer pondered in her thoughts a bit. "Does he act strange?"

Makarov bit his lip. "Other than randomly collapsing and looking like he has migraine, I did notice he never needed a tour at Fairy Tail or Magnolia. I also met him before two weeks ago at the guild but we only crossed paths, I was told that he helped Lucy, another new recruit, join."

"Anything else?"

"He's secretive and mysterious, but the same goes for a few other mages in Fairy Tail."

" _Anything_ else?" Porlyusica tensed.

"What do you mean? This is the first time you seemed interested in one of the members."

"It's nothing." She snapped. "Just be careful with this one, I fear he might be dangerous."

Makarov turned to the door and grinned. "I'm taking my chances."

"I can't believe you're still alive."

The door slammed and Makarov found Lucy waiting outside. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Um…" Lucy played with her fingers. "Well I was sent to tell you that… uh… the members of Fairy Tail may be attacking Phantom Lord about now…"

…

Everything was silent.

Until…

"WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT!" Makarov screamed his lungs out and fainted over a heart attack.

"Master? Are you okay. Oh my gosh!" Lucy rushed to the master and knocked on Porlyusica's door. It was a good thing she told him the news just next to Porlyusica's house.

"WHAT!" Porlyusica opened the door, annoyed. "What happened this time?" She sighed.

"Well…" Lucy sweatdropped.

* * *

Lucy entered the healer's house while carrying Makarov into one of the beds. She jumped when the old lady screamed "What are you still doing here?"

"I'm just checking in the master." Lucy replied, expecting another bark from Porlyusica.

"Get out! That old man is fine, he's just old."

"Uh- But- Can I check on Natsu?"

"Get out!"

"Please!"

The old lady's nostrils flared. "Be careful." She sighed and muttered how she hated humans.

Lucy approached to where Natsu was resting and found a snow white cat sitting on the bed. She took a stool and sat on it as she watched Natsu stir. He took his covers off his head and yawned deeply. He stretched and his eyes watered.

"Lucy? That you?" He asked as he rubbed his eyes.

"Uh yeah, I was just leaving"

Natsu jumped. "Can you stay a bit longer."

"What? Why?" Lucy whipped around, blushing.

"It's dangerous for you out there. Uh, you might get kidnapped by Phantom Bored- er Lord." Natsu uttered suddenly in a cold sweat.

"What are you talking about? Did you bang your head or something?" Lucy laughed.

Natsu mentally slapped himself. Even this all sounded weird to himself and he was the one saying it, but he didn't really feel embarrassed. He already cried in front of Makarov, his pride was already diminished today.

"I have to go help Fairy Tail out." Lucy said.

"Then I'll come with." Natsu jumped off the bed, only to feel a shock of pain bounce all over the inside of his body. His leg was still twisted but it seemed everything else was okay. He was also shirtless but the bandages all over him covered his skin. He took a few crutches that were just resting on the wall and placed them under his arms. "Let's go." He smiled.

"Uh what? You're injured!"

"So what, you're going to get kidnapped, we're both in danger." Natsu laughed.

"Are you sure you're okay? I don't think you're thinking right." Lucy muttered.

"It's fine, if anything happens, just blame Makarov."

"STOP YOU FOOL!" Porlyusica shouted. "What are you doing? You have to keep resting."

"I'll be fine, thanks for your help old lady."

When Porlyusica heard the word 'old lady,' she screamed "GET OUT!"

When they left Porlyusica's house of residence, they found that Carla followed them out.

"Hey!" The cat yelled after them.

"It can talk?" Lucy gasped.

Carla ignored Lucy and pointed at Natsu. "What?" Natsu asked.

"I- if... " She stammered. "If you ever see Wendy again…"

"Please save her!" At that, Carla immediately retreated back into the house.

"Who's Wendy?" Lucy asked as the two of them started to walked towards Magnolia.

"An old friend." Natsu answered wholeheartedly. He didn't smile like this so often, it made him think that he should smile more. Smiling gave him a pleasant feeling.

"So… why did you keep saying I was going to get kidnapped today?" Lucy wondered.

"I had a dream, no, a vision really."

"You can see the future?" The blonde asked, surprised.

"I guess it would be called something like that." Natsu rubbed his head, he wished it was something like that but he knew that whatever he was experiencing was completely different. It felt more like remembering something that didn't happen. He hoped that whatever this was only remained as flashes from now on.

Natsu stumbled as he was still getting used to using crutches. That's when he remembered, he was getting too close people again. He knew he would betray them sometime in the future, but Fairy Tail just had this kind of force that just made you open up no matter you are. He looked down to see a lone leaf, broken and all withered up. _It was going to be just like with Zeref, Igneel, and Happy._

He didn't want that, he hated the sad emotions that washed over him when they all separated from him.

"I'm going crazy…" Natsu sighed.

"Huh?" Lucy tilted her head at Natsu. "What are you doing?"

They walked another few feet until they heard some rustling. "Come out!" Natsu yelled and the rustling quieted. This earned Natsu a curious look from Lucy.

Before them appeared to shadowy figures, they were both clad in black figures and the shade from the trees didn't help Natsu and Lucy clearly see the faces.

"It's nice to see you again, Salamander. Gihi." One of the figures said.

Natsu's expression didn't change, instead he felt a boiling sensation stir up inside him.

* * *

"Is that all you Phantom Lord punks got?!" Erza yelled as the battle between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord seemed to end. All the pawns of Phantom Lord already gave up and the Fairy Tail mages were triumphant.

Suddenly, a dark voice boomed over all of them. "Are you sure you Fairy Flies have won? Don't you think something's a bit off? Like, where are Element Four and our Iron Dragon at a time like this? You flies are missing something, haha." It was Jose.

Erza stiffened as she did realize the big shots of Phantom Lord were not present.

"Tick tock." The voice whispered softly.

It only took seconds for Erza to realize what was going on. In a beat, she turned around.

"EVERYONE RETREAT!" She screamed as she threw the closest mages, Fairy Tail or not, out the door, miles away.

Everyone ran out the building of Phantom Lord as they knew something was wrong. After evacuating as many people as she could, she requiped into Flame Empress' armour and braced herself for what's to come.

"ERZA!" Gray yelled.

"GO!"

 _Tick_

 _BOOM!_

* * *

 **Thanks for Reading :P**

 **Jalis:I have heard of that idea before, but wouldn't that power only work if Igneel was no longer inside Natsu. If that's true, it surprisingly works because dare I say it- well I can't say anything because it might give you a clue with what's happening with Natsu, I like to keep everything vague xD. However I need you to clear up what you wrote in your explanation: First "loosening the limits the antibodies put on his power." -Does that mean The less antibodies he has, the more stronger he becomes? Next "raising his sensitivity three times the normal, making him take double damage" -Is this permanent or temporary? Haha, sorry to ask you to do work to clear things up for me. Oh but does this mean I have permission to use your idea in my story? It's really interesting and it actually fits in the story.**


	8. Run, Forest, RUN!

**Chapter 8**

 **Run, Forest, RUN!**

The wind softly whistled through the small green leaves of the forest. The sun was just starting to dawn on them.

They smelled familiarly annoying to Natsu. He stepped in front of Lucy as if to guard her from what's to come, although how much could he do? He was still on crutches and this migraine of his felt like it was never going to go away. This spells disadvantage for him everywhere.

"Give us Heartfilia, and we'll leave you alone."

"I don't listen to kidnappers." Natsu replied with a smirk, even though the world was spinning again. He noticed how Lucy was shivering.

"Let me rephrase that." The voice said, and he stepped out of the shadows. He revealed to be carrying an unconscious Levy in his arms, his face was…

"Levy!" Lucy cried. The bluenette seemed unharmed, just a few scratches here and there

"You see the deal here? This shrimp for that princess." The voice said roughly. The man wore a black sleeveless shirt, iron pierces in rows of throw neatly on the sides of his nose and eyebrows.

Lucy tried to run over to the kidnappers but Natsu stopped her. His face completely furious, the air around him started to swelter.

"Gajeel…" Natsu started, earning a look from the man he called Gajeel.

"WHAT COULD HONESTLY POSSESS SOMEONE LIKE YOU TO STOOP SO DOWN TO KIDNAP PEOPLE AND TO WORK IN A SUCKY LEGAL GUILD LIKE PHANTOM LORD?" Natsu roared as he violently threw one of his crutches at Gajeel's head, knocking the iron dragon slayer off his balace. "ARE YOU AN IDIOT?"

"Oi oi." The figure next to Gajeel came into view, he looked like the guy Natsu stole Lullaby from. "Pinky, you don't seem to understand the situation here. You see… if you don't comply with us, this blue haired shrimp is going to die, you see?" He smiled nervously, sweat dropping from his face.

Natsu slowly turned his glare to the man. "What kind of coward makes deals with seriously disabled and injured people? You sicken me, so go pay my medical bills for me." Natsu growled as he hurled the other crutch at the guy's head, knocking him unconscious immediately.

Now, with both his supporters gone, Natsu lost his balance, making Lucy rush over to him and help him stand. "Natsu, calm down!"

"Not until I teach Gajeel a lesson." The fire dragon slayer growled as he watched Gajeel approach them.

"What are you talking about, Salamander? I've never met anyone like you." Gajeel said, while dropping Levy to the ground.

Natsu's eyebrows twitched, was Gajeel mocking me? he thought. "You're telling me you forgot the one year you, Wendy, and me spent in that weird dark guild? You mean you forgot your one goal of locating a cat and making it your ultimate partner?"

He signaled Lucy to pick up Levy and get to safe distance from him. Lucy objected, seeing how Natsu still had trouble standing but Natsu just hissed. But he didn't seem to notice that Lucy heard him say that he was part of a dark guild before.

"You sound like you know me, Salamander. But I don't know you or this Wendy. Nevertheless, why would I try to find a cat, that sounds stupid." Gajeel spat. "But what I'm really interested in is having a battle with you. You seem strong, a battle with you seems more interesting than finding a cat."

Natsu intensified his glare at Gajeel. So Gajeel had amnesia of some sort, it made Natsu question just what happened with him and Wendy. _Was Wendy like this too?_ His thoughts were interrupted as Gajeel rushed towards him with a hard fist.

Natsu dodged but landed not-so-gracefully as he heard his leg crack. He winced but didn't show any weakness in his speech. "I'm going to make you remember then!" And he lit his body on fire as he launched himself to Gajeel.

* * *

"Erza!" Gray howled but it was too late. The Phantom Lord building exploded like no other explosion before. The fumes reached all the way to space and the shock wave horizontally cut through everything, sound, air, light. It could probably be felt in the Celestial World. What kind of bomb could could have created something like that?

Gray screamed in pain as he created an ice shield that could barely withstand the explosion. Just as the shield started cracking, the explosion suddenly disappeared but waves of smoke and dust overwhelmed the air.

He coughed and screamed to the polluted air. Everyone else there, Fairy Tail or Phantom Lord, appeared to be saved by the giant ice shield that Gray created to block the explosion. However, it wasn't like they were unscathed.

Cana cursed as this was the second time she's been in an explosion, just because she survived, doesn't mean it doesn't hurt.

Gray collapsed to his knees but forced himself to crawl to the burnt remains of the exploded building. "Erza!" He yelled in hope that the scarlet haired mage survived the explosion. She was in her Flame Empress Armour, so it was possible.

"CURSE YOU MASTER JOSE!" One of the Phantom Lord Mages damned.

Gray felt his limbs giving out and water formed in his eyes.

It's Erza, she can't die because of something like this, right?

* * *

Ow. Gajeel threw him at a tree.

Ow. Gajeel picked him up and kicked his chest.

Ow. He was thrown at another tree.

He just had to pick a fight at the worst time.

"Natsu!" Lucy screamed as the fire dragon slayer was being pushed around, helplessly.

"Is that all you got? Salamander!" Gajeel roared as he pummeled Natsu to the ground. "You're weaker than I thought."

Natsu struggled hard. One of his legs were still broken from Deliora, his head still hurt like hell -just another reminder-, now Gajeel gave him broken ribs. Worst of all, he was starving like crazy. He didn't know Porlyusica that well, but he was sure that the old mage would be furious if he came back all broken… again.

"Damn it Gajeel, you can be so unfair sometimes." Natsu croaked while spitting out blood.

"Natsu, please stop! This is my problem! Because of my dad..." Lucy screeched with tears forming in her eyes.

"Lucy be quiet. You're going to get on my nerves too if you keep up that helpless act! I'm fi- GAH" Natsu didn't have time to react as Gajeel punched him straight in the jaw and and kicked his stomach afterward. Natsu would've puked, but there was nothing to throw up since he hadn't eaten anything for a while.

"NATSU!" The celestial mage broke into tears. She ripped one up her keys off her belt and held it up to the sky. "Open! Gate up the crab! Cancer!" She screamed and a bell noise rung through the trees. A light shined in front of her and… a man crab thing stood, holding scissors in both of his hands. "-Ebi." It said in a stylish pose.

Natsu jumped back on his feet, enduring the pain. He lunged out to make a counterattack. Only, he didn't attack Gajeel, he punched the crab.

Natsu was too strong, and Cancer didn't expect that, so he closed his own gate. -ebi.

Lucy facepalmed. She had a feeling Natsu knocked out Cancer on purpose. The dragon slayer was clear now. This was _his_ fight.

"Shut up... Lucy." Natsu forced a smile.

Gajeel stood over him with a disappointed look. "What's with that idiotic smirk, Salamander?"

Natsu kept the smile on even as Gajeel stomped on his broken leg with no hesitation. He cursed in undying pain. Don't worry Natsu, you can always kill him later when this is all over, he thought to himself.

"I'm smiling… because… I'm lucky..."

Gajeel leered at Natsu, knowing that nothing was going to change now.

"That… you forgot how to use dragon slaying magic."

Gajeel looked at him curiously as he grabbed Natsu and pushed him down to the ground again attempted to crush the Salamander's stomach.

UGH Gajeel was so going to get it! Natsu's comeback would've sounded way more epic if he had any magic left to counterattack him with. Suddenly, hope shined onto Natsu as his eyes found a light. Just a mile away, he saw a giant explosion. Explosions meant fire, which meant food. He opened his mouth widely as the explosion suddenly spread all over the sky in a few seconds which stunned Lucy and Gajeel. Quickly all the fumes of the explosion gathered to Natsu, surprising Lucy and Gajeel even more. He swallowed it all like it was a drink. It was like he consumed the whole sky.

Natsu pushed off Gajeel and steadily stood up despite his broken body. "Thank's for the meal." Natsu rubbed his mouth. He kept his eyes closed as if thinking deeply. He knew he had to finish this quick, his magic was rapidly depleting even though he just ate a giant explosion.

"What the hell was that?" Gajeel yelled at him and Lucy gave the fire dragon slayer a look of absolute surprise and shock for she was speechless.

" **Dragon… Force**." Natsu's voice echoed throughout the forest, the trees had burning tops. A fiery magic circle with the seal of a dragon appeared in front of Natsu and the fire dragon slayer walked into it.

…

…

 **...**

"Wha-" Before Gajeel had time to even blink, fire erupted from all over Natsu, disintegrating the trees around him and the sky was overtaken by the color red He saw scales form around the Salamander's face, but the flames grew too intense for Gajeel's eyes. He had to shut his eyes, but he felt a hot, fiery punch thrust violently at his gut. His top was burnt off immediately.

" **Go and remember… how to slay a dragon**." Natsu gasped and opened his eyes to reveal mirror like emerald eyes. Everything hurt even more that it felt like his skin was peeling off. But he shouldn't be playing around too much, he was wasting time and energy.

Gajeel stared in uneasiness. He was in the presence of a dragon. He remembered this feeling...

" **Fire Dragon's… ROAR**!" A giant burst of flames spiraled towards Gajeel, the size was colossal as the forest was instantly reduced to ashes even before a spark of flame made contact with a single leaf. Maybe he was going overboard with this magic, but that was to be expected, this was like only his third time using this spell. He sweatdropped… that meant he didn't know how to control it well…

Fortunately for Lucy, she was behind Natsu so she wasn't harmed. No, only her clothes melted and her eyes grew large as she tried to cover herself and Levy with something, anything.

Natsu thought he overdid it until he saw Gajeel appear from the sea of flames, his skin fully iron. Looks like Gajeel finally remembered something, Natsu thought. Gajeel looked dead as when he opened his mouth, smoke popped out. Natsu glared at Gajeel as he threw a rock hard punch to Gajeel, blasting him a mile away. He managed to see the amnesiac not move after that.

Which was weird.

Gajeel should be a lot more durable than that.

At least that's what Natsu thought.

The temperature seemed to drop to normal as the scales on Natsu faded and he looked completely human again. Natsu blinked and his eyes were back to normal, he flexed his arms and smiled. Good, he still had some strength left.

He turned around to see Lucy who was shivering with a blank stare.

He thought Lucy probably thought he was a monster now. He dreaded that feeling. Now Lucy was probably going to leave him too and tell Fairy Tail and he'll be alone, again.

"…"

He was grim until Lucy smacked him across the face.

"IDIOT!" She screamed with her tear stained face. Natsu wore an astonished face.

"LEVY AND I ARE NAKED BECAUSE OF YOU, COVER YOUR EYES YOU PERVERT!" She yelled.

Natsu quickly turned around with a thoughtful look.

Lucy didn't think he was a monster.

She just thought he was a pervert.

That's new.

Lucy smiled, looks like one thing was resolved for now.

She looked at Natsu, to see that he still had clothes intact.

"Uh Natsu?"

"What?"

"Can I borrow your cloak?"

"Uh sure…"

"Thanks."

* * *

After bringing Gajeel and Levy to Porlyusica's and getting scolded because they burnt down a whole forest and were injured again, Natsu and Lucy left, the celestial wizard with new clothes from Porlyusica's closet. She looked just like a Porlyusica, just young and blonde and all Lucy.

They walked on the burnt path left by Natsu's previous battle and just talked until they would reach the town of Magnolia.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Lucy asked for what appeared to be the fiftieth time.

"Yeah, there's still a few battles left that are waiting for me today." Natsu said, relaxed. He was on crutches again, but his magic was returning back to normal. It only took like fifty bonfires to eat that Lucy created with a mere stick and flint. As long as he didn't break any more bones, he should be fine for the next five hours. He would just have to deal with how sore everything felt. He needed a break, soon...

"What was that spell you used? I swear you almost looked like a dragon back there."

Natsu didn't reply.

"You said something about being in a dark guild with that Gajeel guy. Care to explain?"

No reply again..

They suddenly stopped on the trail when they found a peculiar object resting on a pile of ashes. Natsu remembered that Gajeel had a partner just before they engaged fighting… Oh shoot, that guy might've died, oh well. He thoroughly sniffed the air. Nope, that guy was still alive.

"That's Lullaby." Lucy whispered. "And my keys!" She screamed as she picked them up. Aquarius was going to kill her…

"Lullaby? I thought this was in my bag-" Natsu tapped his cheek. "This could be useful."

"Huh?" Lucy blurted out.

"You'll see." Natsu grinned devilishly.

* * *

Fairy Tail looked like a hospital that just got hit by a hurricane. Everyone was laying on tables and on the ground, moaning about their sore bodies and injuries. No one could've expected an explosion of that size, especially with the majority of Phantom Lord's own members in the middle of the mix.

Gray slumped at the corner of the bar, thinking that Erza had died. There were ashes everywhere, they couldn't tell if any was part of Erza though. She could be dead. If the scarlet haired monster survived, then why would she just disappear and leave Fairy Tail to think she died? Both ideas sounded ludicrous so Gray just shut them all down and tried to remain calm.

Cana tried using her tarot cards and lacrima to locate Erza, to see if she was alive but there was no sign. She then tried to call Mystogan and Laxus for help but there was none. Laxus refused immediately and she couldn't even find Mystogan. She sighed, Fairy Tail was in a big mess now…

Mira cried and Elfman -her brother- tried to comfort her but ended up crying as well. It was manly to do so.

Fairy Tail was in a bad situation, it turned even worst when they heard a familiar voice echo throughout the sky.

" _It seems like you flies are still alive, I see_."

Gray and Cana grit their teeth. They were on the verge of exploding.

" _Well to end you all out of your misery, I have a special present awaiting you all_."

A few of the mages peeked out of the window, only to faint at shock. Everyone else went outside to face the new terror face to face.

The Jupiter Cannon.

"THE HELL ARE YOU DOING NOW?" Cana yelled.

" _You flies have a choice, handover Heartfilia or die_."

"So that was what all this was about." Mira collapsed. "We suffered all this just because you want to take Lucy? OVER OUR DEAD BODIES!" The rest of the members shouted in agreement.

" _Death it is then_."

* * *

Natsu and Lucy finally made it to Fairy Tail, only to find a giant death cannon pointing at the building.

" _This is your last chance, Fairy Tail. Hand over Heartfilia_!"

"NEVER!" The guild roared, embracing themselves for the blast.

Lucy clasped her mouth. It can't be… her eyes started to tear up again.

Natsu sighed and said to Lucy "You cry too much, just trust me." He held up the flute with a wicked smile. "Heehee."

A giant sphere of light appeared at the mouth of the cannon and started absorbing all the elements around it. It grew and grew until it was ready for fire.

One button was pushed by Jose and the cannon shot a giant beam of light towards Fairy Tail.

Everyone lost hope and just waited for the worst to come.

Until Natsu stood in front and held a flute to his mouth. If he just played one soft note and cracked it in half, it would…

The giant beam engulfed everything in light.

The last thing everyone heard was a flute play a high note for a long moment and a soft snap.

And everything was blank.

* * *

Or everything was supposed to be blank.

All of a sudden, the flute Natsu held suddenly grew until it could touch the sky. It grew to be as tall as a skyscraper but it looked like some kind of ominous castle with a three eyed face. It towered over everyone. And it was the one the took the hit from Jupiter.

"BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" It yelled in agony.

Everyone grew question marks above their heads as a giant wooden demon thing just appeared out of nowhere and took the blast for them.

No one knew what that was or what was going on so they didn't even feel the slightest pity for the thing. Natsu knew it was Lullaby's demon form, but didn't say anything. If anything, he was surprised that the demon was durable enough to defend against the whole blast. He thought he would have to take over being the shield but it looks like he didn't have to do anything for now.

The beam started to fade and Lullaby was revealed to have a giant hole gaping in its stomach. Natsu looked through it with wide eyes. That had to hurt.

It roared like crazy, bursting everyone's ears. "CURSE YOU! DRAGNEEL?!"

Natsu sheepishly smiled. It was going to happen one way or another.

Everyone watched in pure bewilderment as the Jupiter cannon blast was stopped by a giant tree monster that just appeared out of nowhere.

"What was that?" Roars of confusion exploded from the crowd.

The crowd was silenced when they heard a click. "Fire it again!" It was Jose's voice, looks like his microphone or whatever was still on. The jupiter cannon set aim to Fairy Tail again. The members gasped again, shifting focus from Lullaby to the cannon. It was obvious that Lullaby wouldn't be able to take another blast with the hole in his chest and all.

Natsu glared at the cannon. Then a thought dawned on him. Without warning, Natsu jumped up till he reached Lullaby's head and kicked it with tremendous force. Lullaby's whole body blasted forward to Phantom Lord's Jupiter Cannon in a split second.

"BAAAAAAAAAAAH!" It yelled as it still had no idea what was going on.

" _WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT_?" Jose screamed as the demon hurled at the cannon and crashed into it, disabling Jupiter Cannon.

Boom!

The cannon along with Lullaby exploded. Lullaby was possibly dead by now… but no one cared.

Everyone's eyes went wide. What in the seven seas was Natsu doing?

Natsu landed with a nerve splitting crunch, but he held his breath.

Jose's voice echoed in the sky. " _Wh- Who are you_?"

Natsu smiled. "I AM THE SALAMANDER, DEMON CONJURER AND FIRE DRAGON SLAYER. ALSO KNOWN AS YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE!" He roared while stifling his laughter. The demon conjurer part was obviously a lie but he couldn't pass up the opportunity to act stupid for once in awhile.

Lucy sighed, Natsu was roleplaying too much.

Fairy Tail laughed at Natsu's remark. That was a joke, right?

Jose growled and the mages could hear a loud click. Suddenly the earth started shaking and the from the ocean nearby, emerged a gigantic building with legs.

That must be Phantom Lord's true building, Natsu thought. The place where that Jose guy is probably hiding. But it didn't really matter anymore since the Jupiter cannon thing was gone now…

"I don't know what happened…" Cana started. "But we won!" Fairy Tail cheered as Jose obviously lost his patience.

" _SHUT UP YOU INSOLENT FLIES_!" Everyone hushed. " _DON'T FORGET WE STILL HAVE A HOSTAGE! While you flies were too busy paying attention, we kidnapped Heartfilia_!"

"..."

Natsu looked behind him to see that Lucy was clearly standing right there. Jose probably thought Gajeel succeeded in kidnapping Lucy…

"Pathetic." Natsu muttered.

" _Don't think this is over_." Jose yelled over the speakerphone. " _You may think you won, but we still have Fairy Tail blood on our hands…_ "

Natsu raised his eyebrow.

Gray stepped up. "You'll pay for that, Jose." At an instant, he clasped his hands together and freezing temperatures spread across the whole area, the ocean froze and stiffened immediately, freezing the Phantom Lord building. Ice encased the legs in solid, unbreaking ice.

" _Looks like you flies still have members grieving._ "

"Grieving over what?" Lucy's voice trembled, confusion covering her eyes.

" _Titania's death_." Everyone's heart skipped a beat.

Mira cried, it felt like Lisanna's death. "You'll pay!"

" _HAHA COME AND GIVE ME ALL YOU GOT! IT'LL ONLY LEAD YOU ALL TO YOUR DEATHS_!" Fairy Tail was already raging and rushed towards the building of Phantom Lord, anger clouding their minds.

Only Natsu, Mira, and Lucy stayed back. Mira collapsed, thinking she was useless. Lucy held back her tears, just because Natsu kept telling her to stop crying.

Natsu stood while analyzing the battlefield. From the back of Phantom Lord's building, Shades suddenly appeared and started attacking the Fairy Tail mages. The only ones who made it into the building were Gray and Elfman, which spelt bad news to Natsu. The dragon slayer could feel four presences in Phantom Lord that could match their strength, possibly the so called Elemental Four. However there was one big, disturbing presence, which could be the Master Jose.

He looked at Mira and Lucy who wore melancholy faces.

"Erza's not dead." The two mages perked up to the sound of Natsu's voice.

"How do you know? You weren't there." Mira rubbed her eyes.

Natsu sighed, Fairy Tail sure seems to cry a lot. "I just know. But how did she supposedly die?"

"An explosion."

Natsu laughed. "Oh... that explosion. I was the one who ate that explosion so if Erza was caught up in it, that would mean I supposedly ate her." He stated calmly, until he realized what he said, his face slowly started to turn disgusted.

"YOU ATE HER?" Lucy screamed at Natsu in horror.

The dragon slayer sweatdropped. "No that's only _if_ Erza was caught up in the explosion. No worries, I didn't taste any human, I think…" Natsu didn't like the thought of turning into a cannibal.

The girls looked at him in a new way. Natsu was definitely no ordinary man.

Mira sighed. "Fine, I trust she's alive. I just wonder where she went…"

The three looked on as they saw the battle between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. Fairy Tail wasn't doing so well, if they kept going on like this, they would lose.

"Uh, Natsu, aren't you going to join the fray?" Lucy asked and watched Mira join the battle. Mira didn't stand out too much, Lucy wondered if she was going to use magic.

Lucy looked at Natsu who started looking pale. She worried for his health. "Or maybe you could just stay here and rest…" Lucy smiled nervously.

Natsu inhaled for a long moment, then exhaled. "Lucy… Can you carry me there?" He said while strapping his crutches to his back. "It's probably the fastest way of getting there for me right now."

"Okay-AH." Lucy finally realized how heavy Natsu was when he got on her back.

"Onwards!" Natsu roared.

"Aye…" Lucy sweatdropped as she had to carry a heavy man a few miles and carry him to the entrance of the building.

* * *

Halfway to their goal…

All around them was the booming activities of mages barraging magic on the shades. Lucy was still so tired but kept going in a slide, since the ground was ice. Luckily, she got the hang of it and learned how to skate along the ice.

"What's happened Natsu? You got all quiet." Lucy said.

"Motion… Sickness… Stupid…" He muttered. Lucy's eyes went wide as she screamed.

"Don't throw up on meeeeeeee!"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading. :D**

 **To be continued in chapter 9: Dual Blading with Crutches. - As the name of the chapter name implies, Natsu is going to dual blade using crutches as his dual weapon. Just a heads up. I had a blast writing this chapter, time to have more fun writing the next chapter.**

 **Gajeel would've put up more of a fight, but... it will be explained in the future. It also looks like Lullaby was defeated and forgotten. I feel bad for it.**

 **The name of the title, it means that the forest should run before Natsu completely incinerates it all. If you get the reference, good job! (P.S if you get the reference, there's no relation between the two meanings at all.) :P**

 **Uh just saying, those horizontal lines that cross over the page are used for change in perspective, time, and location.**


	9. Duel Blading with Crutches

**Chapter 9**

 **Duel Blading with Crutches**

"Lucy you're so slow. I know a cat that can carry me faster than you and he's less than half your size." Natsu groaned. "And he doesn't make me motion sick."

"Are you going to keep insulting me or am I going to get a thank you at the end of this?" Lucy sighed as they finally made it to the building.

"Neither." The dragon slayer said, as he got off of Lucy's back and dusted himself. "Your turn then."

"My turn? Wait, WHAT?" Lucy screamed as Natsu grabbed her and carried her bridal style. He then started to climb the frozen legs of Phantom Lord's building by hopping ten yards up with his good leg, each landing he melted the ice so he wouldn't slip off. Lucy screamed until Natsu snapped at her for hurting his ears with that loud scream.

They finally reached one of the entrances, where they found a young man with hair the color black and white. He wore a japanese style top and a katana rest by his side. He was on a platform above them.

"So you're the Salamander." He commented while jumping down to get on their level. "My name is Totomaru, I'm a fire mage like you."

"So what?" Natsu huffed while putting Lucy down.

"That means neither of us can beat each other with our fire magic."

"Really?" Natsu narrowed his eyes at this Totomaru. He didn't want to use all his magic on a small fry like him so he acted like he agreed. "Then how do you suppose we fight?"

"It's obvious!" Totomaru unsheathed his katana. "We don't use magic."

The dragon slayer just stared at him. Should he just end it in one punch or make things more fun. "Sure." Natsu agreed as he took both his crutches off his back.

Totomaru lunged at Natsu in the flash of a second, his blade sharp and thirsting for blood. Natsu blacked it by using one of his crutches at a shield and swung the other crutch at Totomaru's side. Totomaru being a professional samarai and all (I think) quickly leaped out of the way with ease.

"Salamander, your sword skills are really bad." Totomaru sighed.

"I'm using crutches as blades, what do you expect?" Natsu retorted, he's never really used tools as weapons. But these crutches were surprisingly strong for not being sliced by a real sword.

"I'm just unsatisfied with not getting a good sword fight. Perhaps I should just end this now." Totomaru sighed again.

Nope, he was not going to end this. Natsu could tell that from the first hit that Totomaru was not strong enough to harm someone like Natsu.

Totomaru ran at Natsu, ready to horizontally slice the dragon slayer, but was completely surprised when he saw Natsu let go of one of his crutches and his fist lit on fire. Immediately as the fire engulfed his whole fist, Natsu threw it at Totomaru at the speed of a speeding bullet. It hit Totomaru straight in the face, then Natsu thrust his other crutch to Totomaru's stomach, making Totomaru spit out saliva and fall unconscious.

His last words: "You lied and... How couldn't I… control your flames…?"

"My fire doesn't listen to weaker people. Like a lion wouldn't bow down to a lamb." Natsu replied. "Oh, and I don't make promises about how I'll fight."

Lucy, who just watched, looked at Natsu. She didn't know what to expect from the fire mage any more.

"Time to fight the next boss." Natsu whistled as he marched up to where Jose should be. Lucy followed.

* * *

They walked in a long hallway with many paintings. Lucy suggested that the long line of paintings may have told Phantom Lord's past but each painting portrayed something different, it didn't look like any one of the paintings was related to any other painting in any way.

Suddenly, Natsu stopped in his tracks when he saw one certain painting. It was a picture of a crow and a dove, nothing special there, but Natsu took an interest to it. He recalled seeing that painting before but couldn't place his finger on it… Natsu pounded his hand in realization. This looked exactly like what Zeref painted four hundred years ago. The dragon slayer looked closer to the painting and Lucy just looked at him weirdly. Natsu's mind suddenly jumped when he saw a signature at the bottom left side of the painting.

Signed _Dragneel._

His heart leaped, that's impossible, Natsu himself accidentally burnt it to ashes when he was just exploring his new powers all those centuries ago. Although he had no way of telling if this was original or fake… Just how many paintings can be a duplicate of a cursed death mage that was made roughly four-hundred years ago? Natsu sweat dropped. _Why would Phantom Lord have something like this?_

He turned away from the painting to find that there was a giant blindfolded man standing behind him. Natsu was caught off his guard and couldn't find himself moving as two oblique magic circles suddenly appeared diagonally above him.

"Metsu!"

The dragon slayer nervously sweated as he knew what came next wouldn't be good… The two magic circles stopped and locked on Natsu. Next thing, the air below him suddenly blasted upward and even held him off the ground as Natsu felt all his magic suddenly vanish from his body. The air above him exploded this time and blew Natsu to the ground, completely drained of magic… again. He noticed how Lucy wasn't there but her scent lingered.

 _Aw come on Lucy, where are you when I could potentially need help in a battle? I can't do everything!_ Natsu thought as everything hurt one hundred more times than last time. He strained to open his eyes at the mage towering him. This guy was Aria of Element 4 of the element air. Natsu closed his eyes again, he was definitely losing his touch in these battles, it was probably because of this weird limiter he set on himself before he came here. Or it could be Fairy Tail's fault, yes let Fairy Tail be the scapegoat for all his problems…

"So... So... Sorrowful, it's too sorrowful! Where does this sorrow come from?" Aria cried for no reason. Then Natsu started to hear footsteps get nearer and nearer.

"We couldn't have you running rampant and ruining all our plans now could we, Salamander?" It was another voice. Jose's voice.

Natsu just barely managed to turn his face to see Jose. … Just one glimpse and Natsu immediately thought that this guy was a fool.

"Especially when we learned you beat Gajeel and Totomaru with such ease. And most of all, when you somehow summoned Lullaby's demon form."

 _Was he just going to recite all my life's accomplishments?_ Natsu groaned at the thought. Jose also mentioned something about Lullaby… The dragon slayer had a feeling that Phantom Lord had teamed up with Eisenwald for some reason. It could make sense.

"That's when a thought dawned on me. Why not have another dragon slayer?"

Natsu knew where this was going. Jose was going to say something like join him or something like that.

"Join me."

He knew it. This only happened like one other time in his life with Purehito. Plus a few other times… Although this guy was serious, he actually thought that Natsu would consider joining.

"...Pathetic." Was all Natsu could say before closing his eyes again.

Jose approached Natsu and kicked him so hard that it threw Natsu against the wall. It didn't hurt as much as having no magic. But Natsu was already annoyed and didn't like to be shown as _weak._ He started to think that he himself was getting pathetic. Just getting beat up too much in one week is a shame.

 _D or D, D or D…_ In Natsu's mind, he was debating whether to go berserk. Both of which could expose him to more suspicion but Natsu needed to let the beast/demon inside to go out sometimes. He liked to show off sometimes. Meh, and it's not like anyone present would be alive to tell the tale.

Jose kicked him again in anger. Aria spouted some more nonsense about sadness. By every second, Phantom Lord seemed to get more annoying.

 _Dragon or Demon…_ The dragon slayer supposed that he would use the latter. The current dragon in him needed magic which he was fresh out of…

"THEN DIE SALAMANDER!" Jose screamed.

"Pathetic…" Natsu coughed then soon clicked his tongue.

* * *

Gray had just finished his battle with Juvia and was now running through the halls strip naked and badly injured. He soon found the hallway where Natsu was getting attacked in. He was about to yell at the Phantom Lord members in attempt to save Natsu but he was stopped by a giant fist. He found that Makarov and Lucy were behind a corner, watching the one-sided battle.

"Old Pops? What are you doing here? And Why are you doing nothing when Natsu's getting beaten to a pulp?" Gray yelled quietly.

"That's right! At this rate, Natsu's going to get killed!" Lucy whispered angrily at the Master of Fairy Tail but was stopped from making any rushed moves by Makarov. "Let me help him!"

"Sh!" Makarov sighed, sad. "I know the concern you have for Natsu, it pains me to watch one of my children to get beat up right before my face. But I'm doing this to _help_ him."

"How is this helping him?" Gray argued.

"Look, Gray, Lucy. The moment I crossed paths with Natsu was when I saw the tremendous power within that boy. And along with that power was this horrifying shadow. You guys know the deal with magic: _if the Mage's mind is frail, the Magic will take over and destroy them._ If I don't see the extent of that power as soon as possible, then I have no chances of knowing how to help him. When I visited him today, I was shown the weakness in him. His magic power may be incredible but I think he has a weak mind…"

"Really? He seemed completely fine to me." Gray commented.

Lucy pondered on the Master's announcement. She remembered a lot of the things that Natsu revealed. Like dark guilds to being arrested. Craziness and strange knowledge on Lullaby's Demon form and people like Bora. And Motion sickness- wait, that had nothing to do with anything-. If she connected these together, she could make out that Natsu definitely did not have a very happy past.

"Something's happening." Gray gasped while pointing at the attack.

Makarov squinted at the sight. Something was off. While the magic pressure was the same, the air thickened like a higher being had just appeared and has come to bring down their judgement upon all of them. Good or bad.

"Get behind me!" Makarov ordered immediately and suddenly a blast of power suddenly erupted from _someone_ and the whole hallway (which is miles long) was suddenly engulfed in a giant wave of flames. Makarov covered both Gray and Lucy from the flames which in turn made him burn instead but he stifled his agony. The wave of flame washed over everything until it disappeared from vision, it was still going. It left a trail of embers.

Then everything turned black.

Literally.

The once white walls and colorful flooring and decorations was all instantly turned into charcoal or something that looked like black coal. It was weird that for a few seconds that the charcoal _boiled_ like it was a liquid and then it instantly dried and turned into a hard solid. No one knew what if weird substance was still charcoal but didn't bother on thinking on it. Everything was black so it was really hard to see even with a few flames still burning. They didn't provide that much light.

Worst of all, there was _something_ there. They couldn't even use the word human for _it._ Whatever it was, it radiated a terrifying aura. It created this black ambience. It created a giant burst of flames without giving any sign of magic power. And there is still no feeling of magic power. Just a dark heavy atmosphere.

Was _it_ Natsu?

Suddenly, the Fairy Tail mages heard a crack and a scream. It was earblasting, perhaps this pitch black environment enhanced sound waves. Lucy cringed and Gray tried to look over at what was happening. Too bad it was too hard to see.

Then they heard a voice.

"I- I thought you couldn't use magic?" It was Jose's voice, all scared and shriveled up in fear.

There was no reply, instead there was another _crack_.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

After a long three minutes, the screaming died out.

That was two screams. Two cracks. Makarov feared that they were next.

A fire flickered brightly and the three mages slowly turned their heads to the left. There was a person there. The light source was behind that person so they couldn't see the front appearance but they could just make a general outline of the shape and the color of the figure. The scent of blood was everywhere. They all gulped nervously.

They could only tell from the black cloak and the pink hair that it was Natsu. Possibly. There were horns on his head however… and his eyes glowed crimson red.

" **How** **would** **you** **like to** **die** **.** "

It wasn't a question.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading :P**

 **Wow, this could quickly escalate to be an E.N.D fic, that wasn't my true intention. Although since Fairy Tail has never heard of E.N.D before then maybe it doesn't matter until later, if this story is going to be that long. I'm also scared that I'm making Natsu seem weaker than he is but I don't want him to be overpowered either. Oh okay, I wrote Zeref to be an artist okay, I hope you guys are fine that he can paint and draw, I don't think it really makes a difference.**

 **E.N.D! Or maybe not... What do you guys think will happen?**

 **Notice last chapter Lullaby yelled Dragneel!? With a question** **mark. Another small, vague clue for you all. xD**

 **Should I tag this story with Spoilers Alert? Or is it too late? xD**


	10. Dragon's Cry

**Chapter 10**

 **Dragon's Cry**

Just after they were all about to lose hope, all the shades just suddenly disappeared. All the Fairy Tail mages were exhausted, they used most of their magic power and the effects from the contact with the shades was still wearing them down. If they had to fight for just a few more minutes, they would've been defeated.

Cana was panting while wiping the sweat off her face, she smiled. If the shades are gone, that means Jose had been defeated. Just as she was about to scream victory, she found a blurry figure appear from the entrance of the Phantom Lord building. It was Elfman, running at a speed she has never seen before.

He was screaming something but the Fairy Tail members could not quite catch.

"-N!" They all squinted at Elfman's retreating figure.

"RUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" He yelled.

Behind him burst a giant wave of liquid fire. It could be magma or a giant wave of flames, either way it was not going to leave a pretty mark.

The rest of Fairy Tail saw this but just stayed still. They must have realized that the flames could probably not reach them because they were about a hundred meters away. Between them was a frozen ocean that was slowly melting. Surely if the fire touched the ice or water it would just steam or something logical like that…

Of course… this is a magical world.

Elfman kept running, jumping off 15 feet off the building and landing on the ice, cracks appeared around his feet. He slightly lost balance for a bit but proceeded to run like hell to his destination: Mainland.

"It's manly to run!" He shouted with wide eyes.

The members of Fairy Tail were laughing at him until they saw the reaction the fire had with the ice.

The roaring tidal wave of flames that rolled from the building rushed over the edge of the building, falling to the ocean like a waterfall just with larger range.

Five feet before contact, steam exploded in the space between the fire and ice. It looked like most of the fire was extinguished when it hit the water, only a few flames stood on the water placidly. However, the steam was the problem. The reaction from fire meeting ice and water created a storm of steam, engulfing everything in range.

The mages didn't really see this as much of a problem as it was just steam, it couldn't be that harmful. The steam was heavy and dark, desperately hugging the surface.

Yup, it was just steam.

The steam quickly vanished and all the Fairy Tail mages looked at Elfman.

Elfman sweatdropped. "I'm a man!"

* * *

 **~Inside the Phantom Lord castle/building~**

In everyone's ears it sounded like it said " **How would you like to die.** " The Fairy Tail mages all looked at the towering figure with wide eyes as wisps of flames danced around the area.

"Natsu, is that you?" Makarov gasped out loud as the three Fairy Tail mages kept their guard up. The figure who was supposedly Natsu did not move. The light finally reached his face to clarify.

A sense of duress surrounded them.

It was him.

But…

Why did it look like he wanted to kill them?

* * *

 **~A couple minutes ago~**

It didn't work. Appearance wise, he looked somewhat different with horns and red eyes, but Natsu knew he didn't go into his demon form. For example, he couldn't use his demonic powers. He planned on killing Jose by summoning his curse and unleashing his wrath on him. Instead, he had to crush Phantom Lord's Master's skull. No need to worry, he didn't die. Another example was that his appearance wasn't completely transformed. Come on, he could look more badass than this. And the third example: his train of thought would be completely different -maybe.

Although he should've realized that this transformation backfire should've happened. The last time he used was when he was a kid before the Eclipse gate event. He remembered attacking Igneel in this form. Good times.

It was until Natsu found the scents if Makarov, Lucy, and Gray nearby that he snapped out of confusion and started to worry. There was no doubt that they heard Jose's screaming, but maybe they didn't know that it was him who caused the pain? Maybe.

Natsu slowly crept up to them to notice that their eyes only saw darkness, the embers that stood near them didn't provide too much illumination either. This was his chance to leave.

 _Crack_

Natsu tripped over the debris in the floor. Luckily, he caught himself just before he hit the floor but he found himself balancing in front of a flame. In front of the three Fairy Tail members.

He watched as they slowly turned their heads in his direction. Eyes widened even more when their sight landed on him.

Panicking, Natsu just had to say one of the last lines he should've said. " **How would you like to die.** " Perhaps he said it so monotonously because this line was something he said often, demon or not. It was like a habit to say it. But it was probably the worst line to say to these mages

After a long pause he heard Makarov whisper. "Natsu, is that you?"

The mages tensed and their eyes tried not to blink. Upon hearing the old man speak, Natsu quickly extinguished the little flame. The Fairy Tail mages stiffened as they didn't know what they were dealing with.

The dragon slayer's heart raced as he slowly tranformed into his full human appearance, he had no idea what to say, so he proceeded to use the awkward conversation starter.

"Hey..." He breathed deeply in a positive tone and heard the Fairy Tail mages exhale in relief.

"Flame Brain?" Gray asked.

"Yeah it's me, Stripper." Natsu ignored the nickname Gray called him.

"Are you human?" Makarov asked in a soft tone, trying not to provoke the Salamander.

"Yeah." Natsu lied.

"Is there anything you want to say?"

"Nope." _Nice try old man, but I'm not about to spill my whole backstory to you now._

"Natsu… we just saw you with horns on your head and eyes glowed crimson. Are you okay?"

Natsu laughed nervously. "Haha, what are you talking about, I've been laying on the ground for the whole time. You probably saw an illusion or something, who in the world would be able to see in a place as dark as this anyway?" The dragon slayer hoped to get himself out of their suspicion which was impossible. "Wait… if you guys were here, why didn't you help me when I was getting beaten to a pulp?"

The Fairy Tail mages stiffened again.

"It's because you're the Salamander, you're not supposed to be beaten easily by some mages." Gray taunted which in response got a 'shhhh' from Lucy.

Natsu, falling for that taunt, yelled "I bet even Makarov would've been beaten to a pulp if he were in my situation!" He then muttered something about this being the last time he tried to help Fairy Tail.

"Ha! In your dreams, boy!" Makarov laughed.

Enraged, Natsu unconsciously lit up the pitch black hall with small flames. The flames made it so it was bright enough for them to see. "I think it would be in your best interest to leave." He huffed. "Go on ahead, I need to get some real rest, I'll catch up."

Makarov gave him a look of worry, but led Lucy and Gray through the hall. Once they were out of sight, Natsu collapsed onto his bum, sighing.

They all looked at Natsu one last time. He looked human enough, right now...

Natsu looked at the floor, then to the wall to realize that everything was colored black. It looks like he burnt that painting of a crow and dove again…

He sighed and took out a crystal clear lacrima from his pocket and set it on the floor. Light softly blinked form it and it made a quiet hissing noise until a clicking noise was made.

"Hello?"

"Hey Ultear, it's me."

"Oh Natsu? That's really rare, what's the occasion?"

"I need a favor."

* * *

 **~One day later~**

All of Fairy Tail was panicking and running around the building in worry.

The council was here, and there was nothing they could do to stop them.

"WE'RE DOOMED!"

Indeed, the council was here, subduing every Fairy Tail mage who tried to run, they seemed to be enjoying themselves a bit.

Makarov, in the interior of the guild, took a sip of alcohol, examining the state of the guild. They were definitely going to need building repairs, although there were bigger matters to worry about: Erza's disappearance. The master knew that everyone was acting over-dramatic so they could forget about the Erza problem, even if it was only a while. In a few days everyone was going to calm down, and then remember...

He only noticed that Gray was looking at him with question filled eyes.

"Have you seen Natsu?" Gray asked.

"Ba bi da la boo." Makarov said, drunkly and almost unconscious. On second thought, he is unconscious. Mira then brought a blanket to the master.

Gray sweatdropped at the sight of their drunk guildmaster but turned around when he heard the doors suddenly slam open. It was that same girl from before that looked just like Ur…

"Where is Natsu?" Her voice boomed across the building.

 **~~~ In the dead forest near Porlyusica's house ~~~**

Surrounded by ashes and nothing but dead life, Natsu stared at the gray skies. He wondered if this is how Zeref felt when that death curse of his activated.

He sighed and looked around. He was standing in the forest that was lacking the tree part, mostly due to his previous scramble with Gajeel. But today was a new day, he could actually walk without crutches for once, finally. He was thankful for his fast healing abilities.

Natsu followed a trail of ashes until he reached Porlyusica's home which he was definitely going to get yelled at for destroying the forest surrounding her home.

But what was Natsu to say for destroying the forest. He wasn't going to apologize, it wasn't entirely his fault.

He quietly opened the door, noticing the cranky old woman wasn't home. Relieved, he intruded into the home casually until he spotted Gajeel with Levy sitting on a stool next to him.

"Gajeel." Natsu said.

Gajeel responded with a growl. Levy tried to calm him down but was also growled at with dark eyes. Natsu decided to play this glare game too until both Gajeel and Levy suddenly put on nervous faces.

"What?" Natsu asked, putting his glare away.

"Uh, nothing- it's just that your eyes looked like it turned gold for a second, it's probably just my imagination." Levy stuttered uneasily.

"O-okay…"

Suddenly, Gajeel started growling at him again.

"What's your problem?" Natsu sternly asked the iron dragonslayer.

After a few seconds of grunting, Gajeel finally spoke, "who are you- well forget that-"

"Seems easy for you who has amnesia," Natsu commented rudely.

"-Don't interrupt me! -I just want to know who in the world am I." Gajeel asked, with a deep tone of annoyance.

"I don't know, remember for yourself!" Natsu started to turn around but stopped himself, if he left like this then what was the point of coming here in the first place? He closed his eyes. "I may not know the answers. But I'm sure Wendy can tell you."

"Who's Wendy?"

Quickly, Natsu rushed out the door, leaving Gajeel confused. The fire dragonslayer wiped his forehead of sweat and slowly breathed.

Natsu heard Gajeel's roar. "Damn it! Why does that Salamander have to act so vague!? I'LL KILL HIM!"

He quietly laughed, _there was the part of Gajeel he knew and hated. Ah memories_.

Now, actually looking at the real atmosphere around him, he noticed the scent of fresh flowers breeze through the air. He saw the forest that he had previously burnt, was alive again with lively, blooming trees. Even the wild life seemed to be restored.

In front of him stood Ultear.

"Did you do this?" Natsu asked.

"Who else?" Ultear smiled. "So what's the favor?"

"Let's go talk somewhere else." Natsu suggested while he noticed a familiar scent nearby.

* * *

 **~Deeper in the forest~**

The scent was following them, but Natsu paid no heed to it. He looked at Ultear and started to talk.

"Where's the Tower of Heaven?"

Ultear stepped back with wide eyes in surprise. "How do you know about that?"

"You don't need to know."

Ultear made a humming noise. "Hmmm, what do I get in return?"

Natsu sighed. "I get to be your friend."

"And…?"

"Uhh… I'll tell you more information… about 'that'…"

" _That_?"

"Ugh, you know what I mean. Don't torture me."

"Oh but, Natsu, did you know about that little pest listening in on our conversation?"

There was a shuffling in the bushes. Their heads turned to the sound.

Natsu sighed again. "Yeah I knew. Hey Ice Prick, stop hiding and show your face already! You can't fool us with just those leaves as a disguise."

"Damn it." They heard.

Gray jumped down from a tree and as expected his clothes were off.

"Stripper." Natsu quietly commented.

"I heard that Flame Brain!"

"Whatever."

The three of them stood in silence, anyone could hear a bird chirp. Natsu couldn't handle the silence anymore so he decided to punch Gray.

"WHAT?!"

"'What' you! What do you want?" Natsu snapped.

"..."

"Say something or I'll punch you again."

"Just try Flame Brain!"

"Okay ENOUGH!" Ultear interrupted. "Gray, speak up!"

"How do you know my name?"

"Just answer, Ice Idiot." Natsu muttered.

Gray glared at Natsu and Ultear. "I was keeping tabs on Natsu because I wanted to know if he was an enemy to Fairy Tail. Then I saw you." He pointed at Ultear, "Then I knew something was off… How do you guys know each other?"

Natsu looked to Ultear and vice-versa.

"We don't have time for this." Natsu said.

"You can't keep dodging my questions!" Gray grabbed Natsu by the collar.

"No, I mean it. Erza has a deadline. Meaning she's actually going to die soon."

"Erza's alive?" Gray's face contorted into that of mixed, confused emotions.

"Yeah. I thought Fairy Tail was supposed to believe in their friends." Natsu rolled his eyes.

"It's hard to believe someone's alive when you see them blow up in front of you…"

"Well then I'll knock some sense into you."

Ultear coughed, "So are we going to continue the conversation from where we left off?"

"Yes, tell me where the a Tower of Heaven is." Natsu said.

"You'll give me your end of the deal?"

"Maybe, now let's go!" Natsu roared. "This conversation took longer than expected, so hurry up! Oh and Gray, you're coming too because you took three minutes of my time."

"Right! I'm in."

"Hurry up then! And put on a shirt while you're at it!"

Gray looked down to see himself shirtless. "AH!" While in panic of searching for his clothes, he heard Ultear snicker to herself.

* * *

 **~~~ Porlyusica's Place ~~~~**

"Don't get up!" Porlyusica yelled at Gajeel for attempting to move around.

"That dumb Salamander left before he fully recovered so I should be able to move to!" Gajeel barked at the old healer which in turn got smacked.

"I won't let anyone disobey my orders again, so unless you want to not move ever again, I suggest you not move."

"Ughh," Gajeel sighed.

Levy sweatdropped at the poor dragonslayer when she heard the doors open.

"Lucy!" Levy greeted the celestial mage.

"Ah, Levy, there you are! Have you seen Natsu or Gray?"

Gajeel growled at the sound of Natsu's name.

Ignoring the iron dragonslayer, Levy said, "Natsu was here an hour ago but I haven't seen Gray."

"Okay." Lucy sighed.

"Why, what's wrong?"

"The master requested that everyone meet at the guild tonight, I was tasked to look for them. Oh, you should come too, well if your hands aren't too full." Lucy said, glancing at Gajeel.

"Oh, yeah! Thanks Lu-chan."

Lucy left. Levy sighed and looked at Gajeel.

"What are you looking at, Shrimp?" Gajeel coughed.

"Don't call me 'Shrimp!'"

* * *

 **~~~ On the train ~~~**

"Angel, you look tired, you should take a nap and never wake up."

Angel, with bags under her eyes, refused. "Gee, thanks Wendy," she said sarcastically.

"Seriously, I'm a healer, I know the symptoms of being tired."

"You _were_ a healer." Angel corrected.

"..."

Through the windows of the train, Wendy saw a sign that read ' **Magnolia: In 50 miles east**.'

"Wendy, you're unstable." Angel said bluntly. "Honestly, we should've never brought you with us two months ago. You can't heal, you can only kill. That's basically what any other dark mage can do. You're not special, this guild should only have 6 members - excluding Zero- , not 7.

Wendy drew in a breath. "I think you actually care about me, Angel. A kid shouldn't ever have to act like this. Even you, who was a slave of the R - System, think that children shouldn't act like how I'm acting. You are actually soft-hearted for a murderer."

Angel was silent and Wendy just looked at the sun set.

"I do need help." Wendy said but was unheard because Angel fell asleep.

"Gajeel… Natsu… Carla…"

"Grandeeney..."

Her words were monotonous and Wendy wondered if these words still had meaning.

" _Help…_ "

* * *

 **Thanks for reading :P ~To be continued next chapter.**

 **Questions? Review! Or you know, just review. :D  
**

 **Well, I have advise for you amazing people.**

 **1) Don't underestimate High school.**

 **2) Don't underestimate Video games.**

 **3) Don't underestimate My laziness.**

 **Sorry guys for not updating in a long time but thanks for your support! (Although since I haven't written in a long time, I'm going to have to remember where I was going with this story. Please be patient xD)**


	11. Turmoils Start

**Chapter 11**

 **Turmoils Start  
**

 **~~~ Fairy Tail Guild ~~~**

Most of the guild was trying to reconstruct the 'dream guild' in the night. The master was supposed to announce something right about now but he was nowhere to be seen.

And it was dead quiet.

"Man it's so silent." Wakaba said while supporting Macao with placing a beam straight up.

"Well, Master is not here yet, Gray and Natsu are missing, and Erza is-" Macao didn't dare to finish his sentence. There was still hope that she was alive, and if she was still alive then she was just MIA… But that was not likely, after all someone like Erza would never just up and leave in the middle of a Fairy Tail War.

"It sure does hurt seeing someone a lot younger than you die before you…" Wakaba muttered.

The two old men looked at each other, then started crying in each other's arms.

"She CAN'T be dead!" This caused the wooden beam they were holding to slowly fall to the ground, onto a person.

"OWW!" The person screamed.

Macao and Wakaba wiped their tears and ran to help the person. The person was a woman with white hair who wore blue and white clothing.

"Sorry! Are you okay, miss?" Macao said, while paying more attention to those sexy curves… ooh. Wakaba seemed to had pleasant thoughts too.

"No! Get this thing off of me! Do you just drop heavy wooden beams on people everyday? Ack!"

"No, I think the question should be why you're so near a construction sight. It's dangerous here." Wakaba said as he and Macao picked up the wooden beam of the lady slowly.

"I'm sorry," a blue haired girl walked up to Wakaba with a blank expression. "My companion got lost and she ended up here."

The men glanced at the blue haired girl, then to the white haired woman. "A kid…"

A vein popped on the blue haired girl's face and she tried to lunge into the nearest man with the intention to kill them but she was stopped by the white haired woman.

"Sorry, this kid is crazy, now if you excuse us…" The woman said as she picked up the girl to prevent her from touching anyone else.

Lucy arrived and the first thing she saw was a girl flailing in a woman's arms. Wakaba and Macao's noses' bleeding. She smacked both the men's heads. "Stop acting like perverts." She sighed. Her attention was then turned to the woman and girl who were fleeing from the scene. Lucy heard the white haired woman mutter "Wendy, don't go killing random people like that, especially not when there's a ton of people around!"

Lucy was going to chase after them to apologize but the name 'Wendy' sounded familiar to her. _Wasn't that a name Natsu mentioned before?_

Her thoughts were interrupted when she saw Loke. His face showed that of shock and fear, his body was even trembling and… invisible?

"Loke?" Lucy said to snap the mage out of his thoughts.

"Lucy? Ahh what do you want?" His voice shook.

"I'm wondering if you're okay and your body… well I don't know if I'm seeing things but it looks a bit see-through…"

"What?" Loke jumped. "Ah! No that's… just the moonlight. "I'm going to go rest, see ya!" With that said, Loke immediately took off.

"Hey! Aren't you going to wait for Master's announcements?" Lucy called.

"You can tell me all about it later. Bye!" And Loke was off.

Lucy took no time to think and chased after him.

"Loke!"

Lucy was off too.

"Man…" Wakaba said. "The young ones and their drama."

"I know, right?" Macao agreed.

* * *

 **~~~ Porlyusica's house ~~~**

"Gajeel, Stop!" Levy whispered.

"Hell no, I can't sit still and wait for my memory to come back!" Gajeel whispered back while trying to get of his bed. He tried not to be so loud because Porlyusica was in the next room studying something.

"What are you going to do, there's no potion that can just cure amnesia!"

"I'm not dumb enough to believe that those kind of potions exist. I'm going to find this 'Wendy' that Salamander was talking about."

"You don't even know what this person looks like." Levy exclaimed quietly. "Fine, but I'm coming with you."

Gajeel smiled and opened the window. It was really dark outside, and it was only until then that he realized that the forest grew back. "What? -Whatever, come on Shrimp or I'll leave you."

"Geez, be patient." Levy sighed, her face slightly hot.

The two of them escaped the house by the window, thinking what an accomplishment it must be to leave a house unnoticed, until they found Carla standing in front of them.

They forgot about the cat.

"Should I knock her out?" Gajeel suggested to Levy.

"No. Are you crazy?" She looked to Carla, "Please let us pass."

"Sure. But only if I come with you." Carla stated.

"Why?" Levy asked.

Carla shifted uncomfortably and looked away. "I have a bad feeling about something…"

"Okay, let's go!" Gajeel barked impatiently.

* * *

 **~~~ Meanwhile ~~~**

The old healer was intrigued. She was studying a sample of all the plants that suddenly regrew in the forest. Each plant was the same as they were before the who forest incineration incident, it was as if the fire freak disaster never happened. She was very grateful, but who was she to show this gratefulness.

Porlyusica decided to check in on Gajeel and Levy. She went into the room where they were supposed to be in… It was empty.

She snapped a broom she was holding and grit her teeth.

"Stupid humans!"

Then she quickly rushed out the door in search of them.

* * *

 **~~~ Tower of Heaven ~~~**

A man with blue hair sat on a throne like a king. The room was very dark but the man seemed like he could see clearly in the darkness.

"The R-System is almost complete…" He said.

A muffled sound screamed at the man's words.

"Shhhh… Fairy Tail should be getting the gift by now."

* * *

 **~~~ Fairy Tail Guild ~~~**

"Hello Makarov and Mira." Macao greeted as the midget old man and barmaid arrived to the construction site of the Fairy Tail building.

"Hey Macao," Makarov said while checking the amount of people in the area. Most of the members in the guild were present, and they were all looking at him. "There's a lot of people here at night."

"Um… Well, you said that there was a special announcement that you were going to talk about tonight." Macao said, scratching his beard.

"When did I say that?" Makarov looked at Macao, confused.

"This afternoon."

Makarov was silent. Cana came up to him and asked "Are you okay?"

"Master?" Elfman intruded with the same concern everyone else was holding.

"That can't be… In the afternoon, Mira took me home because I was out cold from drinking too much."

"Then who…"

Suddenly, an echo of a crow cawing was heard throughout the dark night. Then they saw something drop off from the sky until it crashed into the ground.

"What the-" Cana stopped her sentence.

Once the dust settled from the crash, the members stared horrifically at the object that just fell.

Red hair…

It's Erza.

"Someone get Porlyusica right now!" Makarov ordered immediately The members of the guild still stood frozen as they were trying to confirm their sight.

"NOW!" he barked.

One of the members, Reedus, along with Jet and Droy ran off to find Porlyusica like Makarov ordered.

Meanwhile, the rest of the members stared at the awful sight.

Erza Scarlet's body lay crippled on the ground, blood and bruises everywhere.

Cana stiffly walked over to the body to check for a pulse, a deed that no one else dared to do.

No one wanted to confirm this death.

Cana lifted her hand to the neck, hoping to feel a pulse, a beat.

The whole guild was silent.

…

And her heart was silent too.

The members cried in disbelief.

"It can't be!" Mira started to break down. "NO!" She shrieked.

But it is.

Erza Scarlet is now confirmed dead.

* * *

 **~~~ By a Beach ~~~**

"Don't tell me it's going to go down like this." Natsu stared sickly at a paddle boat under pale moonlight. "Argh! Transportation, my true enemy…"

"Stop whining." Gray sighed as he hopped on the boat, Ultear did the same.

Natsu sniffed, "Well, here goes nothing." He hopped on the boat, to immediately collapse and turn green.

"I can still never believe that someone as powerful as Natsu would be reduced to 'this' by a form of transportation." Gray commented. He hoped to get some kind of response from Ultear, but nothing came from her expression.

"Um… so how do you and Natsu know each other?" Gray asked as he picked up a paddle and started paddling.

Ultear took a few seconds to decide whether to answer or not. "We have the same master."

"Really? I also had a master. Her name was Ur."

Suddenly, Ultear's expressionless face turned cold at the sound of the name 'Ur'.

Gray's hands shot up as a gesture that he was innocent to whatever he did. "What? You're giving me a death stare. Very similar to that of a certain red haired mage I know."

"Ur…" Ultear breathed and her tone darkened.

Gray put his hands down. "Did you know her?" He said softly.

"Yes…" Her voice contorted into that of a maniac for one second. "She was my mother…" She quickly clasped her mouth, realizing what she just said. She glared at Natsu who was acting half dead. He probably had something to do with what she just did.

"What?" Gray's eyes widened. "That's why you look so much like-"

"Shut up. Don't say another word or I'll kill you." Ultear turned around to face the sea, a silhouette of a giant vertical line appearing just over the horizon.

"That's…" Gray started.

"The Tower of Heaven." Natsu barfed into the sea before looking at the tall tower just a long distance before them.

"Tell me why are we going there?" Gray stared widely at the barely visible tower.

"That's where Erza is." Natsu moaned, preparing for another barf.

"And how do you know she's there?"

"Don't underestimate me."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"It doesn't have to."

"How sure are you that she's alive?"

"I'm pretty damn sure."

Barf.

* * *

 **To be continued, Next Chapter.**

 **Please Review! :D**

 **There's going to be a lot of scene changes, so I'll try to make my document format as organized as possible. This is because the Tower of Heaven arc and the Loke arc are happening at the same time, but of course with different people and different events.  
**

 **So if you have any advise on how I should format this thing, please do tell :P Or if it's fine, then GOOD! :D**

* * *

 **~~~Thanks Reviewers Roster~ (I'll call it that from now on -even though the name makes no sense.)~~~~~~~~~~**

 **UchihaBrotherhood: Don't worry, Gajeel will get time to shine... even though he has amnesia...**

 **Trevor607: I'm so glad someone understands my problems xD**

 **Jalis: Should I tell you that you're right with the 'seems' part? Or maybe not...**

 **Tobias97: I agree. :P _  
_**


	12. Where Evil dances

**Chapter 12**

 **Where Evil Dances**

 **~~~ Tower of Heaven ~~~**

"Okay, I don't think they noticed us," Ultear said as she watched Natsu jump off the boat for freedom. Gray just casually walked off the boat and surveyed their surroundings. There were many guards but it doesn't look like they were noticed.

"So this is the Tower of Heaven." Gray breathed.

"This is one of the towers that was used for the purpose of the R-System, also known as the Resurrection System. Well, see you boys... if you live." Ultear started to push the boat back into the ocean but she was stopped by Natsu.

"Where are you going?" Natsu asked.

"Out of here, the deal was to lead you to the Tower of Heaven, not _help_ you."

"Well, I won't hold up my end of the deal unless you help."

"Are you implying that _you_ need _my_ help?" Ultear snickered. She walked closer to Natsu and whispered so Gray couldn't hear. "Are you saying that you want me to destroy a project I started a decade ago?"

Natsu leaned closer, softly saying "First, it would be faster if there were more people. Second, you and I both know that this project is dead. Zeref's alive so technically this project is trying to resurrect a live person, which doesn't work."

"I see. And so you're just going to use me because of this _deal_?"

Natsu smirked and nodded.

"I hate being used, but… Fine, just don't tell Meredy about this."

"Sure…" Natsu smiled sheepishly. He then turned around to Gray. "Hey, Ice Prick! Ultear is going to stay because she realized that you'll probably be dead weight for this entire mission."

"Say what, Flame Brain?" Veins of anger popped on Gray's head.

"Just remember to not die." Natsu summarized.

"I don't take orders from you," Gray said. A scoff of agreement came from Ultear.

"Just deal with it- Wait, I can sense someone coming here."

The three mages stood still and looked around their surroundings. It doesn't look like the guards had spotted them… yet. Suddenly the water from the ocean started flowing up into the air until it formed into a human. A woman with blue hair.

Immediately, Natsu pinned her down and his fist lit in flames. Just as he was about to swing a punch towards the woman, Gray stopped him by temporarily freezing Natsu's fist. Ultear just watched them in silence.

"Stop Natsu, I know that girl. She's not an enemy!" Gray hissed in his lowest voice.

"Then who is she?"

"Her name is Juvia and she's from Phantom Lord!"

"Looks like she was an enemy just a few days ago," Natsu said as he was about to hit Juvia. Gray stopped him again.

"Stop! She's an ally! Trust me."

"Why would I trust you if you can't trust me," Natsu muttered darkly. After a few seconds, he extinguished the flame on his fist and threw Juvia to Gray. "Let's go, we're wasting time."

They took a few steps toward the tower but they had to quickly hide behind a rock. That was when Juvia decided to strike up a quiet conversation with Gray.

"So Gray-sama, how have you been since our last meeting?" Juvia said.

"Uh well…"

Natsu decided to not listen to this conversation because he thought it would lead to nowhere. He kept his face forward to his goal. The top of the tower.

"Natsu, wait," Ultear called.

"What?" He didn't turn around.

"The council has a meeting going on and I have to use a thought projection to be present there. That means I won't be able to do much over here because thought projections take a bit of concentration."

"Really? It doesn't look to hard."

"Just don't expect much from me." Ultear sighed.

"If you're going to be useless too then you might as well get on this boat and leave." Natsu gestured his hands to the boat to give a clear signal to Ultear.

"No, I think I'll stay here to annoy you. It's my turn to get on your nerves."

The dragon slayer snorted. "Well don't blame me if you die."

* * *

 **~~~ With Wendy and Angel ~~~**

The two girls walked around in a forest, Angel held a note and was trying to figure out the scribbly drawing of a map.

"So where's this special water?" Wendy asked.

"It's supposed to be around here somewhere. It supposed to be at a waterfall, if I read this drawing accurately. But who knows, Brain has no talent for drawing." Angel said.

"You say that, but you just can't read at all."

"Fine, then you read a map." Angel hissed.

"I don't need a map," Wendy smirked. "I can hear a waterfall from here."

* * *

 **~~~ With Loke and Lucy ~~~**

In a small forest, Lucy was chasing Loke.

"Loke, Wait Up!" Lucy yelled while Loke kept running away from her.

"Get away from me you stalker! ~" Loke hummed and fake cried at the same time.

"You're the last person I want to hear that from! Now wait!" Lucy screeched angrily while dodging all the porn magazines Loke was throwing at her. "And where did all this porn come from?!"

When Loke finally ran out of porn magazines, Lucy cheered in victory and ran more proficiently. Up ahead she saw an opening in the trees and she heard a whooshing noise.

 _A waterfall?_ She thought.

* * *

 **~~~With Gajeel, Levy, and Carla ~~~**

"I think we're lost." Gajeel declared.

"You're helpless." Carla commented.

"Who in the world let Gajeel be in charge of navigating through a forest?" Levy muttered without looking directly at Gajeel.

"Himself." Carla scoffed.

"Wait, I can smell someone." Gajeel halted, and his nose twitched. "And it's a familiar scent, follow me."

The other two quietly obey, despite being skeptical. Finally, they found a clearing and a waterfall.

"I don't see anyone here…" Levy trailed off, until she caught a glance of a white haired woman and a blue haired girl. "Hey!" She called to them.

No response.

"HEY!" Levy called again.

This time the two people turned around to see them. The older woman was holding a bowl of water and the girl was staring blankly at them… until she caught a glimpse of the white cat.

The girl's mouth couldn't let the name from escaping her mouth. "Carla?"

Carla's ears twitched and her eyes quickly started to tear up. "Wendy?!"

Gajeel also caught up in this exchange of names and blurted out "That girl is Wendy? The one Salamander was talking about?" He turned his head to the blue-haired girl. "Hey girl! If your name is Wendy then do you know me?"

'Wendy' took a step back in astonishment. "Gajeel too?"

Wings sprouted from Carla's back and the cat rushed to fly to Wendy. Gajeel also started to walk closer.

Unfortunately they didn't realize that Wendy was preparing an attack to them.

"Gajeel, Carla! Watch out!" Levy realized.

" **Sky Dragon's… ROAR**!"

Suddenly, a hurricane-like blast blasted from her mouth and aimed toward Gajeel and Carla. Gajeel managed to keep his footing and endure the blast but Carla was blasted out of the air and she crashed into a tree.

"Wendy…" Carla gasped.

"Carla!" Levy rushed to the cat's side. She looked towards Wendy. "Natsu never said that Wendy was a bad person."

Carla lifted her paw as if to reach for something, but the pain from the blast prevented her from doing so. "Wendy's not… bad… She's just… confused…" She replied to Levy.

Levy looked at Carla with sympathetic eyes. Wendy however, did not look at the cat in the same way. There was just a face of no emotion.

"Wendy!" Gajeel yelled as he ran towards her with his arm transformed into iron. Wendy was caught off guard as she was still paying attention to Carla. However, since Gajeel forgot how to use his magic, he completely missed. He hit the ground just a foot from Wendy and his arm crashed against the ground, creating a big hole. Gajeel hissed, "Damn it! Using magic is completely different than just hitting people with normal fists!"

Wendy took no time for Gajeel to recover and chanted " **Deus Eques! Sky Dragon's Crushing Fang!** " Wendy charged and swiped at Gajeel's chest with her fingers, leaving the wake of wind behind. It hit Gajeel directly and it blasted him many meters away.

Gajeel coughed and looked at Wendy incredulously. "I can't believe I'm getting beat up by a little girl."

"Gajeel!" Levy yelled as she ran toward the injured Gajeel. "This is no time for jokes!"

Wendy spat at the ground then she faced Levy. " **Sky dragon's Roar!** "

Levy counter reacted with " **Solid Script: Storm!** " She wrote the word 'Storm' into the air and a strong gust of wind was created from the words to Wendy's roar of wind.

Unfortunately, Levy's counter wasn't strong enough and her spell dissipated. It didn't weaken Wendy's roar at all. Levy screamed and showed her back to Wendy so she could protect Carla, who she carried in her arms, would not get hurt. She was heavily blown towards the thick trees in the forest. Her head hit against a hard tree and a loud cracking noise was heard. Her body fell to the ground, and there was no movement.

"Shrimp!" Gajeel yelled.

"Levy!" Carla cried in horror as she realized that Wendy wasn't done yet.

Out of literally nowhere, Wendy took out a sharp dagger and headed toward the Script mage. Her speed made it look like she vanished. But somehow Gajeel stopped her even at the extreme speed she was going at.

"Stop, you're going to kill her." Gajeel yelled.

Wendy glared at him and the message was obvious. _That's what I'm trying to do._ But Gajeel wouldn't be obedient enough to let her go. "You're targeting the shrimp because you have no connection with her. While you're not hurting the cat and me as much because you know us. Am I right?" Gajeel exclaimed while holding Wendy back with brute force.

The sky dragon slayer was silent as she tried to thrust her knife into Gajeel's arm. However, it bounced off because Gajeel's iron skin was harder than she expected. Gajeel smirked, but was surprised as Wendy ducked under him and ran for Levy.

"Hey!" He yelled angrily.

The sky dragon slayer was so close, but then she was suddenly hit at the side by someone. That someone was Loke.

"Huh?" Loke looked at Wendy confusedly as he thought there would be no one else in this area. He looked around to see a lot more people. "Hmm?"

"Loke!" It was Lucy's voice. She appeared by the trees near the white haired woman(who was watching the fight the whole time) and looked at everyone confusedly. "What's everyone doing here?"

"Lucy! Help us subdue Wendy, that blue haired girl next to Loke! She hurt Levy!" Carla yelled.

"I don't understand, but Okay!" Lucy yelled back and quickly tried to grab one of her keys. Well… if her keys were there… "What?" She looked around for her keys as she knew her keys were just on her a few seconds ago. Her eyes landed on the white haired woman who was toying with each key in her hand. "Those are mine!"

"Interesting keys…" The white haired woman said. "Aries' key is here too…"

"Angel!" Wendy yelled, getting the white haired woman's name known to the other people.

"Blondie, these are my keys now." Angel said darkly as she held up one of the keys that Lucy had.

"You can't summon spirits that are contracted with me!" Lucy shouted in disbelief as she tried to get her keys back. Too bad Wendy blasted a tornado of wind towards Lucy to prevent her from touching Angel.

"You're wrong. This is my key." Lucy got one good glimpse at the key that Angel was holding before Wendy's attack hit her head on. _That's the key that Natsu gave her…_

"Lucy!" Carla and Loke screamed.

"GAHHH!" Lucy screamed in pain as the blast of wind cut her and tore up her clothes.

It didn't stop there.

" **Open! Gate of the ram! Aries!** " Angel chanted as a golden glow illuminated from the key. In a flash of light, a pink haired girl with small ram horns appeared out of nowhere.

Angel pointed her key at Loke. "You!"

Loke was frozen in sight, he couldn't believe the sight he was seeing. And it didn't help that his time was almost up.

"You're the celestial spirit Leo aren't you?" Angel continued. "Interesting, but too bad you aren't a celestial spirit anymore or you'd also be in my collection."

"What are you talking about? How do you know this?" Loke yelled.

Lucy looked at Loke then to Angel in confusion, while getting closer to Angel.

"I made Aries here" she pointed to the celestial spirit. "-Cough it out after I killed your previous master, Karen Lilica."

Loke's eyes contracted after he heard that statement. "You killed Karen..?" He didn't even process everything Angel said. Just the words _kill_ and _Karen_ made him feel like like how he felt all those years ago. Without thinking, he leaped at Angel and his ring started to glow. "Twiste-"

"Seems like I made the Lion angry. Aries. Defend me."

"Yes." Then the celestial spirit appeared in front of Angel, preparing to guard against Loke's attack. But Loke stopped midway and completely canceled his own attack.

"Aries, attack." Angel laughed.

"I'm sorry! **Wool Bomb**!" Suddenly a massive amount of magical wool appeared around the area and blinded everyone while also giving them a comfortable sensation. From the wool, Aries ambushed Loke and kicked him in the chest. "Sorry!" She cried.

"It's… fine. I'm almost gone any...way." Loke coughed as his eyes shadowed. The pink wool around them disappeared.

Angel was about to shout another command to Aries but she was stopped by Lucy who pushed her and regained possession of her keys. "I'm not going to watch this torture anymore!" She cried and ran towards the waterfall. She quickly dipped one of her keys in the water and shouted " **Open! Gate of the water bearer! Aquarius!** "

A golden light enshrouded the whole forest and a blue mermaid appeared in the air.

"How dare you interrupt my date! I'll-"

Lucy interrupted her. "I'll take the punishment later! Now attack her!" She pointed towards Angel.

"ARRRGH! I won't take orders from you!" Aquarius yelled but was still preparing a water attack towards Angel.

"Nuh uh uh," Angel smiled. " **Close, Gate of the ram! Open, Gate of Scorpion. Scorpio!** " Aries disappeared and then appeared a man of red and white hair and a scorpion tail.

Aquarius canceled her attack immediately.

"Huh? Why'd you stop?" Lucy asked.

"That's my date, girl. If you had a boyfriend yourself, you would know that you don't attack your date." Aquarius dully said as she floated towards Scorpio. "Let's continue our date."

"Yeah!" Scorpio said.

"I'll be leaving with my boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend…"

"Don't rub it in!" Lucy yelled while her face was flushed. "I guess I have to make my own move now…" She said as she grabbed her whip. "Okay-"

"S **ky dragon's Roar!** " Another blast of wind head towards her. Caught off guard, Lucy wasn't able to quickly react to this. Luckily, someone pushed her out of the way and took the brunt of the attack himself. However, he didn't seem too damaged as he quickly stood back up.

"Your fight's with me, Wendy!" Gajeel shouted.

Wendy paid no attention to him, she instead stared at Angel.

"..."

"Wendy!"

"There's no time left." Wendy said coldly.

* * *

 **~Tower of Heaven~~~**

The group was currently climbing the stairs and was about midway already.

"I can't believe we're already halfway up the tower and no one has seen us yet." Juvia remarked.

"If it was going to be this easy, then what's the point of bringing any of you here at all?" Natsu sighed.

"It's too quiet… They're probably waiting for us to reach a certain floor until they ambush us." Gray said.

"You're thinking too negatively. Anyways, this is good. I need a break." Natsu smirked.

"I don't want to hear that from you, the man of all secrets and dark pasts."

"Who said I had a dark past?" Natsu smiled.

The group finally reached an opening of the stairs where the stairs opened up into a room. In the room were two men were waiting.

"I see you guys have finally reached this floor. I can't wait to eliminate you all." The man who looked like a Gothic Rockstar said.

"I will not let you break the rules. I will pass judgement on you in the name of justice!" Said a man who looked like an owl with a jetpack.

"What rules?" Gray looked at Natsu dumbly. However he stopped staring when he realized Natsu had a dark look on his face.

"Fukuro…" Natsu muttered darkly. Gray decided to take a step back.

"Huh, how do you know our names? I don't know yours." The gothic rockstar, Vidaldus, said.

Natsu's fist lit up in bright flames, a crazy look he wore on his face. In one instant, he disappeared and then reappeared next to Fukuro, the bird man, and punched his beak downward. The punch was so hard that the floor broke and Fukuro's body was sent spiraling downwards, crashing all the way back to the bottom of the tower. "I remember… having a really bad experience with you." Natsu shivered.

Natsu looked at Vidaldus, then to Gray. "Gray, you handle this Rockstar Fraud. Watergirl you help Ice prick. Ultear, you come with me."

"I don't take orders from you!" Gray yelled.

"Yeah! And Juvia's name is Juvia!" Juvia called.

"And I don't have time for any of this. See ya." At that, Natsu rushed up the next flight of stairs with Ultear following him.

"That Flamebrain…" Gray sighed.

"Gray-sama!" Juvia yelled to signal that Vidaldus was preparing to attack.

"Argh! I guess I have to finish off this guy first!"

* * *

 **~With Natsu and Ultear~~~**

As Natsu and Ultear finished the next flight of stairs, they reached a floor full of darkness. A few statues were visible even with the poor lighting.

"A statue room? Of Gargoyles?" Natsu questioned, even though he knew he wouldn't get an answer from Ultear. She was still focusing on her thought projection in the council. _What was happening in the council anyway?_

Suddenly, all the heads of the statues turned to face Natsu. "I see you have gotten pretty far in this tower, Natsu."

"I honestly think you should've made it harder to get here." Natsu replied. "This place is lacking the usual… 'Intruder!' feeling."

"I'll take note of that. Oh, and I see Ultear has defected to your side. She's even at the council disagreeing with my idea to fire the etherion cannon here. You must have more influence over her than me."

"Your name is Jellal, right? Why don't you come down here and let me beat the crap out of you so we can all be done with this." Natsu rubbed his hands and created a torch to see better in the dark.

"I'm surprised you know my name. Did Ultear tell you? Or something else?"

"I'm surprised at myself too. But facts like that just roll off my tongue sometimes whether I like it or not. Are we going to fight yet?"

"Interesting." Jellal said through the statue. "But I'm afraid you haven't reached me yet."

Suddenly, the lights turned on and revealed the setting to be on a bridge. There was a woman with bright pink hair standing in the center of the bridge.

"Who are you?" Natsu asked.

"My name is Ikaruga. I'll be your opponent." The woman glowered at Natsu as she unsheathed her sword.

"Aw man. Not another sword user."

"Do not worry. I will not be so disappointing."

"Sure." Natsu said sarcastically and rolled his eyes but before he noticed, Ikaruga had vanished from where she was standing.

"Acting arrogant are you?" The sound seemed to come from all directions.

"From behind?" Natsu seemingly asked himself out loud. He turned around to see Ikaruga's blade nearing to Ultear's throat. Natsu immediately pivoted and rushed to interrupt the attack. He successfully used his arm to block the sword, however he, didn't expect the blade to be that sharp. "Ow ow…" he said as blood dripped from the sword cut.

"I expect you not underestimate me." Ikaruga's smiled.

"And I would expect you to fight me, not this dead weight here. Where's your honor?"

"I work as an assassin. I hold no honor."

"Well then this is going to be an annoying fight if I have to keep protecting Ultear." Natsu sighed, while touching his wound. "The cut's not that deep."

"Next time I'll cut it off for you." After stating this, Ikaruga vanished from her spot again, the sound of swords chiming echo throughout the halls.

The sounds came from behind him. "After Ultear again?" He stated out loud, but then he noticed the scent was is a different direction. He turned left and his foot ignited in flames. Two seconds later, he pivoted to right and leaped at the air to what seemed like nothing. But his foot actually hit something. A grunting noise was heard and Ikaruga was shown to suddenly appear and bite the dust.

"Wow, you're fast. You're not even using magic yet either."

"How did you know I was there?" Ikaruga breathed in, blood dripping from her mouth.

"You stink."

Ikaruga took a moment to realize what he meant. "Oh, you're a dragon slayer aren't you? I heard that they had a good nose." She stood up. "Then I guess I won't move. **Yasha's Empty Flash.** " Her blade cut the air, but Natsu didn't notice anything else, yet.

"Damn it." His cursed as he realized the attack was not for him again. He quickly pushed Ultear to the floor and looked back to see where Ikaruga was. She was not seen. He cursed again when he realized her scent was behind him.

"Too late." Ikaruga said. Suddenly, Natsu felt an eruption of pain explode within him when he saw a sword pass through his chest, blood was splattered everywhere.

"You're a master swordswoman, you should know better techniques than to thrust a sword through my chest." Natsu coughed, trying not to think of all the pain and all the blood he was losing… again. He really was an unlucky man.

"I'm just going easy on you until you use your full strength against my full strength."

"I am using my full strength." Natsu lied as he grabbed a hold of the blade that was still through him. _This is going to hurt…_

"Liar." Ikaruga spat. "I know you. You're the Salamander of Grimoire Heart. I've heard the rumors and stories. Underneath that skin is a dragon. And underneath those scales is a demon."

"I think you're relying too much on rumors. Everyone in that guild are like demons. I just happened to be a dragon slayer too." Natsu spat out a pint of blood. "Now or never." He muttered out loud which distracted Ikaruga for a second. Then he thrust the blade back out of his chest, caught Ikaruga arm and twisted it. She screamed but Natsu ignored her. He didn't lose a second when he immediately snatched the blade and clenched it in his hands hard. "Rumors are just rumors. And I don't need rumored abilities to take you down." Natsu smiled, and like that, Ikaruga was pinned down.

Ikaruga glared at Natsu. "I have never lost a fight before… But, I guess I should surrender right now."

"Woah, that easy? Do you want me to knock you out so you get an honorable loss?"

"I have no honor. And how is that an honorable loss?" She hissed. "No, the etherion will fire to this castle soon and I'd rather not be here when that happens."

"Okay, go and get your friends out of here. Here's your sword." Natsu said as he stood up and offered to give her blade back.

"Woah. Now this is easy." Ikaruga said in disbelief while clutching on to her twisted arm. "You're going to let me go, just like that?"

"I could kill you." Natsu smiled. "But I won't. Apparently staying in Fairy Tail had a positive impact on the way I live."

"You're in a light guild? None other than Fairy Tail?" Ikaruga was astonished once again. "You baffle me. So are you a demon or a fairy?"

"I'll answer that when I can. But you have to leave now. I've got one more person to beat and there's a hole in my chest. I don't want to spend anymore time near the person who created that hole."

"Sayonara then." Ikaruga left.

Natsu sighed, then he collapsed to his knees in a puddle his own blood. "So much red." He stared horrifically at himself. His upper body started swaying until it chose one direction to fall to. His head almost hit the ground but it was caught by someone.

He slowly turned his head. "Ultear?" He groaned.

"Yup. The council meeting finished." Ultear smiled gently to Natsu and she rested his head onto her lap. He didn't know this girl could act gentle.

"Is the etherion going to be fired here?" Natsu said weakly and his eyelids grew heavy. He was having an internal battle with sleep.

"Unfortunately it is. Siegrain -or Jellal- convinced about everyone in the council to fire it. So everyone voted for it except for me and Yajima."

"It's good to see that you were actually doing something while I had to protect your ass from Ikaruga."

"The Natsu I knew would never try to protect me." Ultear wiped off a stream of blood from below Natsu's mouth.

"Did you ever know me?"

"Did I?" Ultear chuckled.

Natsu sighed. "Whatever. I did it because we're _going_ to be friends."

Ultear laughed again.

"Stop laughing. You're actually scaring me." Natsu said softly. Then he pushed himself off from Ultear's lap. "Let's go whoop Jellal's ass now." He stood up quickly, but stumbled.

Ultear caught him again. "Just lean on me. I'll take care of the rest."

Natsu closed his eyes and muttered.

"Lead the way."

* * *

 **Thank you. To be continued next chapter :P**

 **Please Review!**

 **I hope this chapter wasn't too long xD**


	13. Time

**Chapter 13**

 **Time...**

"What do you mean there's no time left?" Carla yelled to Wendy.

Wendy was silent and just quietly looked at Angel. Once Angel nodded, Wendy said, "It's time to end this. Now."

A small vortex of wind wrapped around Wendy until it grew into a wide tornado, the wind turned into a visible white color to blind everyone.

"Wendy!" Carla cried and her wings sprout from her back. She prepared to fly to Wendy even under these windy circumstances.

Meanwhile, Lucy ran to Loke's side despite all the wind crashing against her, she begged him to stay in the world, for him to not move on to the afterlife.

"It's my time…" Loke smiled grimly to Lucy. His whole body was clear and sparkly, like a star.

"No!" Lucy shouted while violently shaking Loke. "You're only disappearing because you can't manage to stay in the human realm too long, right? In that case, I can close your gate for you!"

"Lucy stop! You'll kill yourself too!" Loke's eyes were wide.

"I won't give up even if you do. No don't leave before I finish this!" Lucy shouted. "Close! Gate of the Lion! Loke! -er Leo!" She repeated the spell over and over again until she herself started to glow.

"Stop!" Loke screeched.

"Interesting…" Angel was barely heard through all the commotion Wendy was creating.

Suddenly, Gajeel erupted from his last position and started running to Wendy with all her had. "IT'S NOT OVER UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHO THE HELL I AM!" he roared loudly, loudly enough to be heard throughout all of Magnolia. Gajeel tore through all the wind with his whole body clad in iron scales. Finally he managed to lay eyes on Wendy behind all the wind.

"Got you! **Iron Dragon's Club!** " Gajeel's arm transformed into a large steel club and it headed to Wendy.

Wendy, however, didn't have a reaction. Instead, she slowly closed her eyes. An ominous spell came from her lips. " **Dragon Force.** "

"What?" Gajeel said as he remembered that Natsu said the exact same spell in their previous battle.

All the air around them froze. Gajeel looked at Wendy as her hair turned bright pink hair and eyes, The hair curved upwards and white scales formed around her skin.

He had a bad feeling about this. His head quickly turned to the direction of Carla and Levy. "Watch out!" He yelled as he he tried to run to both Carla and Levy, to cover them both from the upcoming attack.

" **Sky Dragon's Wing Attack!** " All the air that had frozen had suddenly moved outward to then transform into a giant, sharp wave of wind headed in all directions to sweep up everything and tear everything until nothing is left.

Gajeel braced himself for the attack. There was no way he would leave this with no scars.

" **ENOUGH!** "

The lethal wind stopped blowing and the airs turned peaceful. All eyes turned to Wendy, no they all turned to the giant figure standing near Loke and Lucy.

"The Celestial Spirit King?" Loke gasped in complete surprise.

"What?" Wendy gasped, along with Gajeel and Carla who had no idea what was going on anymore.

"Even more interesting," Angel stated.

" **Enough with this senseless fighting,** " the Spirit King said.

Despite what the Celestial King said, Angel held up two gold keys. "Are you kidding me?! This is an opportunity of the lifetime. If I take the head of the spirit king then I can control the whole Celestial Spirit World!" She laughed with the face craving for power. " **Open, gate of the ram, gate of the twins! Aries and Gemini**!" Despite her holding the keys up in the air, nothing happened.

" **Did you forget that I'm the Celestial Spirit King? The spirits wouldn't fight me, especially for a sad, sadistic celestial spirit mage like you!** " The Celestial Spirit King laughed.

"GAHHH!" Angel screeched in frustration.

" **Would you want me to fight you while you are unable to fight?** _ **So-ra-no.**_ "

Angel was silent. She then turned her head down and admitted defeat. "Wendy, let's go."

Wendy nodded.

"Hey I'm not done with you yet!" Gajeel yelled, frustrated at this defeat.

"Just leave her be…" A soft voice gently said. Seemed like Levy finally woke up.

"I don't listen to people shorter than me." Gajeel growled, which earned him a smack on the head. He then found that Wendy and Angel were no longer seen.

"Shh…" Levy said as she closed her eyes and leaned on Gajeel.

"Don't lean on me!"

Loke and the Celestial Spirit King stared at each other.

"Why're you here?" Loke asked.

The Celestial Spirit King ignored him. Instead, his attention was focused on Lucy. " **You're trying to close my friend's gate. Why?** "

"Because Loke doesn't deserve this," Lucy stated, while breathing heavily. "He didn't kill Karen, Angel did!"

" **Rules are rules.** "

"What rules? Do you just like to stand by idly while your fellow celestial spirits get beat up. You're a horrible king!"

The king was taken aback by Lucy's words. " **I still can't change the rules.** "

"Well if you can't, then I will!" Lucy spat at the king's shoes.

"Lucy!" Loke whispered, terrified. "That's not how people should treat kings!"

"I will and I do if it's the only way to save a friend's life!"

"You're going to get everyone killed!" Loke said, then he looked at the Spirit King. He was wearing one hell of a poker face…

" **Close! Gate of the Lion, Leo!** " Lucy cried again.

"Stop Lucy!"

" **No… keep going.** " The Celestial Spirit King stated.

"Are you crazy? She'll die!" Loke frantically cried.

" **Close! Gate of the Lion, Leo!** "

"STOP!"

" **Close! Gate of the Lion, Leo!** " She cried one last time. Lucy stared at Loke who was barely visible now. "Come on! Work!"

She was about to chant once more when a hand grabbed her. "Stop Lucy, that's enough," Loke smiled. "My time is up."

"You can't say that!" Lucy shouted. She turned to look for Loke but he was gone now. "NO!"

The Celestial Spirit king nodded and disappeared.

"What?" Lucy looked horrified. Loke was gone. "It can't end like this!"

"It actually can."

"What!" She turned her head to the voice. It was Loke. "Loke? Is that you? You're in a suit and you have hair that's spikier…"

"That's how I normally look."

"Really? Does that mean… you can go back to the Celestial Spirit World?"

"Yep. The king decided to make an exception for me due to your resolve to help me." Loke patted her head "Thank you."

Lucy smiled. "Really? Thanks. Now I can take a break now, I'm tired."

"Speaking of breaks…" Loke took a few pieces of paper from his pocket. "Here, tickets to Akane resort. A really great place for vacation. Consider it a gift for helping me. Now I must return back to the Celestial Spirit World. See you."

"Bye," Lucy said as she grabbed the tickets. "Four tickets..?" She looked at Gajeel, Levy, and Carla who were watching the whole time. "Do you guys want to come?"

"Yeah!" Levy smiled but cringed because of her head injury.

"Okay, we'll go as soon as we check our injuries," Lucy smiled back.

"Speaking of head injuries.." Levy said as she thought she was forgetting something.

"THERE YOU ARE!" An old cranky voice interrupted the peacefulness. It was Porlyusica holding a broom broken in half.

"On second thought, let's go now!" Levy sweatdropped.

"Aye!"

* * *

 **~Tower of Heaven~~~**

 **(With Gray and Juvia)**

Gray wiped off sweat from his bare chest. "Looks like the Rockstar fraud is finally done for," he sighed.

"Yeah! All thanks to Gray-sama and Juvia!" Juvia cheered.

"Okay let's go!" Gray started to the next flight of stairs but he stopped when he heard a person walk down the stairs. It was a woman with bright pink hair, and blood stained clothing.

"Are you a friend of Salamander?" she asked.

"Yeah…" Gray answered, reluctant.

"Well, you should probably get out of here. There's an Etherion cannon that's about to hit this tower."

"What's an Etherion cannon?"

"It's a magical weapon that can destroy an entire country."

"What!" Gray's spine chilled, and not because he's an ice mage. "I have to say thanks for the information, but I have to catch up to Natsu!" At that, Gray was off to climb the next set of stairs, followed by Juvia.

Gray arrived to the next floor to find a bridge, and a lot of blood. He took note of this and quickened his pace to the next flight of stairs. Finally, they reached the point where they could see the backs of two people slowly move forward.

"Natsu!"

The two figures turned around. "Woah, Gray you're still alive?" Natsu asked in sarcastic surprise.

"I'm not a weakling! And look at you, you look more bloody and roughed up than me."

"That's because you fought some small fry. But forget that, I can smell some more company coming this way."

As he said that, four new figures appeared a few steps up the stairs.

"Who are you?" Gray asked while getting into his fighting position.

One of them, a big muscular man, said, "We mean you no harm. We found out about Jellal's evil plans. He's going to kill Erza."

Natsu shot Gray an _I told you so_ look. "And who are you people to Erza?" Natsu asked.

"We're her childhood friends! My name is Milliana!" A girl with cat ears chirped.

"I'm Simon," said the muscular man and he pointed to two other guys. "The blonde's name is Sho and the other is Wally."

Natsu, on reflex, covered his mouth when he saw Wally. He remembered tasting a bit of gun powder…

"And what business do you have with us?" Ultear asked.

"We want you guys to save her! We're… not strong enough…" Sho admitted.

"We were going to do that anyway." Natsu pushed Sho back. "Gray, you take these guys out of here. The etherion is going to fire about any time now and I want you guys a million miles away from here when that happens."

"But-" Gray was interrupted by Natsu who pushed him down the stairs. "Gah!"

"Okay," Natsu pointed to Juvia. "You're in charge of bringing everyone here and getting them to leave."

"J-Juvia's in charge?"

"Hey!" Sho shouted angrily. "We're helping too!"

"No, you're not." Natsu pushed Sho down the stairs this time. "Now does anyone else want me to push them down the stairs?"

Milliana and Wally shook their heads as they followed Juvia down the Tower of Heaven. Natsu's gaze stayed on Simon, who didn't move.

"I'm going with you."

"I'm not a seer, but if you come with us, I prophesy your death." Natsu glared at Simon.

"Then let it be a noble death. I just want to help Erza for once." Simon announced.

"You're an idiot," Ultear commented.

"Okay then. Ultear, you protect Simon and I'll fight Jellal." Natsu ordered.

"It should be the other way around. No actually, I think I should push you down the stairs along with the others. Going up there in your condition would be suicide." She crossed her arms in defiance.

"Okay, then let's all go up now," Natsu muttered.

The group of three continued to climb up the stairs until they passed a window. The sky was illuminated by bright blueness.

"Hey look, it's a blue shooting star." Natsu noticed.

"That would appear to be Etherion head straight for us." Ultear corrected.

"Oh."

"Why are you being calm like this, we might die!" Simon rose his voice.

"Don't worry, we won't die." Natsu waved it off like it was no big deal.

"What do you mean?" Simon questioned.

"You'll know when it hits this tower."

* * *

 **(With Gray and the others.)**

"We managed to escape the tower and get on this boat, but why is the sky so bright? I'm pretty sure it's not day." Sho squinted to cover his eyes from the bright light a bit.

"No that's the Etherion cannon! Everyone on the boat now!" Gray yelled as he threw Juvia and himself onto the boat. "Come on!"

Just as the rest of the group dove onto the boat, Gray pushed the boat off with great force and they set sail under the bright blue light. They all ducked their heads low as if that could lessen the impact of the blast.

Five seconds later, nothing happened. Gray dared to look up and he found that this 'etherion blast' was frozen in place. "What the hell?"

"Gray-sama, is that what Etherion is supposed to do?" Juvia asked while she kept one eye closed.

"I have no idea, but let's get out of here while we have the chance." Gray muttered as he took the paddles and paddled as fast as he could.

 _Good Luck! Natsu!_

* * *

 **(With Natsu, Ultear, and Simon.)**

"You froze the Etherion in time?" Simon's eye twitched. "It would seem that I have underestimated you two."

"Ultear, how long until it unfreezes?" Natsu asked.

"Just enough so that your friends don't get caught up in the blast." Ultear broke a sweat.

"Will you be okay? You don't look okay."

"I'm fine."

"You're clearly not. Which means I get to fight Jellal." Natsu sheepishly smiled.

"Shut up."

Natsu laughed but he stopped himself. Looks like the Etherion is about to hit this place. Everyone, prepare yourselves!"

The three mages braced themselves as they watched Etherion resume back in time and crash into the tower in less than a split second. The impact sent the ocean into pandemonium, giant waves vibrating all over the sea. The tower itself was in no better condition than the ocean. The whole island shook crazily, and the light from the Etherion was too bright for anyone to see anything. But with enough time the tower finally stabilized and the island ceased to shake. Surprisingly, instead of the Etherion destroying the tower, the Etherion fused with it.

"Are we okay?" Natsu called and opened his eyes to find that the whole tower turned into crystallized Etherion Lacrima. He tilted his head. "I feel like I've seen this before."

"I'm… alive?" Simon asked himself.

"Present." Ultear muttered.

"Good, let's go!" Natsu cheered. "To beat Jellal to a pulp and save Erza!"

* * *

 **To be continued next chapter!**

 **Woo, I'm on a roll! Please Review to add more steam to my imagination! xD**

 **Looks like these arcs are wrapping up. Sorry for just adding Milliana, Sho, Wally, and Simon there out of no where. I didn't know what else to do... Anyways, you huys should be fine if you read the manga/watched the anime. If you have any problems, then tell me. :P  
**

 **Thank you reviewers! :P**

 **Guest: Thanks! Even though you're nameless, I really appreciate your reviews! Although I don't know how to reply about that Wendy part. XD. T-H-A-N-K-S-Y-O-U! Sorry, I had too much sugar. :3  
**

 **Tobias97: I initially didn't know how to first react to your review and I still don't. At first I thought you were mad at me but now I think you're mad at the people who supposedly killed Erza but didn't, if that makes sense XD. Thanks for your review! Hearing someone say good chapter is feels like I aced a test! :D  
**


	14. Ultear v Jellal! Or?

**Chapter 14**

 **Ultear vs Jellal? Or...**

"Hurry up!" Natsu shouted as he ran up the crystallized stairs.

Simon and Ultear ignored him, as they just casually walked up the stairs in their own pace.

"How does he have so much energy when there's a hole in his chest?" Simon asked Ultear.

"He cauterized his own wound to prevent himself from bleeding anymore to make him stable. And him being stable is good enough for him to act crazy. However, I haven't seen him this happy since..." Ultear answered.

"We're almost there!" Natsu exclaimed in glee, he felt so much energy flowing in the tower that he couldn't help feeling energetic himself.

The group finally reached the end of the stairs, they found Jellal patiently waiting for them and a heavily injured Erza was binded to a piece of crystallized lacrima.

"Hey Erza! You're alive!" Natsu waved to get the red-head's attention.

"Natsu? Simon too? You're here?" Erza questioned in disbelief. "Get out of here! It's dangerous!"

"Who do you think you're talking to?" Natsu smirked. "I'll beat Jellal in no time!" He felt Ultear's hand land on his shoulder. "I mean, she'll beat Jellal in no time!"

Natsu looked at Jellal's face, finally realizing who this guy looked like. He looked strikingly like Mystogan...

"Ultear…" Jellal called out darkly. "You betrayed me."

"No I haven't." Ultear stated calmly. "I was just using you for my own goals."

"Is that so?" Jellal's bangs covered his eyes. "Let's see who's using who then."

"I'm ready. But I bet I'll win this battle in under a minute."

"You're bluffing."

As Jellal and Ultear were preparing to battle, Natsu rushed to Erza and pulled her out of the crystal lacrima. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Erza coughed. Her eyes widened when she saw the state Natsu was in. "Your chest?!"

"Oh that?" Natsu looked at his bloody chest and bloody clothing. "It's nothing I just got stabbed a few times."

"You need help." Erza sweatdropped. "But thank you."

"No problem. Fairy Tail acted all dark and gloomy when you disappeared. It felt like any other dar- boring guild. Boring." Natsu gave her a thumbs up.

Erza gave him a puzzled look until she saw Jellal lunge at Ultear with his body surrounded in heavenly body magic. "Will she be okay?"

"She will. Especially against Jellal, there's no doubt she'll win."

Jellal's speed was so immense, anyone witnessing this battle could only follow a trail of light. Just as he was about charge into Ultear, he missed. No he didn't miss, he just hit a thought projection. His eyes widened and he stopped in his tracks.

"Behind you." Ultear hummed.

Jellal turned around and he was not expecting Ultear's hands to land on his shoulders.

"You know, I was the one who got you possessed in the first place. So if I just un-possess you, you'll lose the will to fight. After all, in the inside, you're a soft-hearted boy." Ultear said as suddenly Jellal started screaming until a dark mass separated from his body and vanished. Jellal collapsed to the floor unconscious. Ultear smiled, "See? Done in less than a minute."

"Lame! I was expecting some kind of explosive fight!" Natsu booed.

"What's your problem?" Ultear barked, annoyed.

"Wait, did she just say that she was the one who possessed Jellal in the first place? Wait, Jellal was possessed?" Erza asked, with the most confused look anyone had ever seen.

Natsu said 'no' the same time Ultear said 'yes.'

Natsu ignored her. "Looks like we finished early. And it looks like no one died either. I call that a win." He smiled. "Ultear-" His eyes widened as he glanced at Ultear. He screamed, "Watch out!"

"Huh?" It was too late, two large fists bashed the back of Ultear's head, her eyes rolled back into her head and she fell forward to land unpleasantly onto the floor. Blood trickled down from her scalp.

And the culprit was Simon.

"Simon? Why did you do that?" Erza yelled as she went to check on Ultear.

Natsu clasped his hands. "I knew there was something wrong with that guy! Usually when I give people death warnings, they usually back off. But this guy didn't care. Now usually people who don't care are the people who have secret evil plans... or people with righteous hearts. But I now see it wasn't the latter…" Natsu trailed off, wondering where he was going with that message.

Simon didn't respond.

Natsu kept talking, "Look, I understand if you're mad about the Ultear possessing Jellal thing, but I was expecting Erza to be the one to get angry."

"Simon? What are you planning?" Erza wondered.

Silence filled the air. Natsu and Erza stared patiently and defensively at Simon.

Suddenly, Simon let out a wicked smile which soon turned into a creepy laugh.

"Well, he sounds possessed." Natsu commented.

Simon kept laughing and laughing and it got louder and louder.

"Simon?" Erza called out his name once more. Natsu slowly moved in front of Erza and he got into his defensive position.

"Something's not right. All the energy from the lacrima tower is rapidly getting absorbed by Simon. Erza, I would advise that you stay behind me." Natsu whispered as he also brought Ultear and Jellal to Erza. "Keep an eye on them."

"Natsu? What's happening to Simon?" Erza whispered in shock, while she watched Simon laugh even louder.

"I have no idea. And I don't think this is going to be pretty…"

Suddenly, Simon stopped laughing, which made Natsu and Erza break out in a cold sweat. _What was he planning?_

"Erza." Simon's voice said.

"What?" Erza sweated in fear.

"I l-loved you."

"Oh boy," Natsu found himself shivering, strange… "You should not confess your love when you're scaring the hell out of us." Natsu still maintained his defensive position while he let Erza talk to Simon.

"Simon…" Erza's voice grew hesitant and worrying. "What are you doing!"

"...Goodbye… Stars…

" **Dark Moment.** "

Natsu's eyes widened as a gust of darkness towards blew past him and his companions and all the stars in the sky disappeared. Even the moon seemed to vanish. Now, the only thing that gave off light was the dimly lit lacrima tower, and even that didn't provide much light.

" **Dark Burst.** " It was Simon's voice again.

Natsu wasn't sure what to expect. Pain? Death? He looked down to the floor to notice that the floor beneath him was black. Darkness? Suddenly the darkness erupted in spikes and managed to pierce his hip, stomach, and arm. He let out a muffled scream and he noticed he wasn't the only one in pain. Erza was screaming too.

"Erza?!" Natsu screeched, he could just barely see the same thing was happening to her.

"I'm fine! I-if it's just pain I can manage it! It's just… Simon!.." Erza bellowed in agony.

"That's right, where's-" Natsu felt Simon stomp on his back. One stomp shouldn't have forced Natsu's body to crash to the spikes of darkness, but it did. He couldn't hold in his earblasting scream. "GAAAAAAAAAH!"

"Natsu!" Erza screamed. She requipped into her purgatory armor and tried slashing the darkness. It proved to work… for a second, the next second, arms of darkness grabbed her and pinned her to the floor. "Damn it! Simon, STOP THIS!" Erza yelled and struggled to get out of the darkness, a wasted effort.

"He's possessed! Erza, let him go for now and try to survive this!" Natsu choked.

" **Fire Dragon's Iron Fist!** " Natsu casted as he quickly pushed back Simon's foot with sheer brute force and punched Simon's chin in an upwards fashion. Natsu then pulled himself out of the darkness. Natsu managed to find out that only certain areas of the floor were filled with darkness. The safe spots were the parts of the floor that weren't pitch black. "You don't want to do this, Simon." Natsu left his wounds as they were. It hurt like hell. Well, to be fair, everything was hell now.

Simon vanished in the darkness again, leaving the words " **Didn't hurt.** "

Natsu lit his hand on fire, to provide some light, but it barely worked. It was like the darkness in the air took a physical form. He heard a quiet breath behind him, due to reflexes, he turned around and punched the cause of the sound. It was Simon, but Natsu's hand passed right through the image of Simon. "A phantasm?" Natsu gasped.

" **Die.** "

The darkness around Natsu exploded, it caused him to get blown in one direction, but he was caught. By Simon, or whatever he was now. "Damn it." Natsu groaned while coughing out blood.

"Natsu!" Erza screamed as she finally escaped from the hands of darkness.

"Erza! Stop!" Natsu forcefully shut his eyes to speak. "Don't come here! Protect Jellal and Ultear for the meantime!"

"But-"

"Just listen to me!" Natsu snapped.

Erza stepped back. _Did his eyes just turn gold for a second?_ She thought for a second. "I don't abandon my friends!"

"While I'm so glad we finally established that we're friends, I really want you to listen to me! So please!"

Erza stared at him in horror while she also glanced at Jellal's and Ultear's bodies. They were sinking in the darkness. "Damn it!" She yelled as she rushed to pull the two from the darkness.

" **Why- - JU5T D1E- - - 4LR3ADY!** " The voice came from Simon but the voice was all distorted and hard to comprehend. It wasn't human-like at all.

"*Huff* *huff* It's because... *huff* You Suck At Killing People!" Natsu growled. He noticed his whole body growing numb and not only that, the form that took Simon was now choking him.

Natsu struggled, his legs were weakly kicking Simon's legs, desperately looking for ground but because Simon was much taller than Natsu, Natsu's feet were a foot away from the actual ground.

Soon the kicking stopped, and so did the struggle for air.

Erza noticed noticed the lack of sound and turned her head to Natsu and Simon just after she pulled Jellal and Ultear from the darkness. "Natsu?" He was motionless...

Natsu slowly reached Simon's arm in hopes to yank it away from him. Unfortunately, with the lack of energy in his muscles, it probably only felt like a small tug. Natsu struggled to open his eyes. He looked directly at Simon with a pale face. Simon looked completely human. But there was no way a mere human would reek of this much dark energy. The only person Natsu knew that had this much darkness was an immortal.

" **tHI5 T1ME W0n'T B3 L1K3 L4ST T1mE!** "

 _Like last time? Last time as in just a few seconds ago or…_ Natsu immediately threw these thoughts into the waste bin of his memory because this time, Natsu might actually die if he did nothing. He screamed internally, his lungs were dying for air. _Damn it. Not strong enough! I'm still not strong? Time to use… Arggh I can't keep showing off!_

"NOO!" Erza yelled and chucked a sword at Simon.

Simon quietly chuckled and moved to use Natsu as a shield from Erza's attack. Erza's eyes widened as she feared that her sword was about to pierce through Natsu.

Except it didn't.

The sword suddenly burst into flames and melted into liquified metal just before it hit Natsu.

Then the temperature in the area suddenly rose up to dangerous heights.

Simon and Erza shared looks of confusion as they just realized that Natsu had another trick up his sleeve.

...

" **Fire Dragon's** _ **.. Afterburn…**_ " The words themselves already sent waves of heat from Natsu.

Simon's grip around Natsu loosened. This is a new spell...

Natsu's whole body was then instantly coated with bright red flames. Simon had to immediately let go of the fiery dragon slayer, for his skin was already get scorched by undying flames.

As soon as Natsu's feet touched the floor, all the lacrima around him turned into the color of a mix of majestical yellow and orange. The transformed floor banished all the darkness away and it glowed beautifully. The floor also started to make a beating noise, as if a heart of flames was in the lacrima tower.

Erza sweated, not only because of the heat but at the sight of Natsu. He wore a look of serenity, while his eyes gleamed a fierceful gold. Actually, she might just get heatstroke.

Natsu wiped his chin of blood and noticed how there were now scales on his hands. _Not good..._

Silence filled the air. Natsu stared into the deep voids of Simon's eyes.

 _Complete darkness..._

Simon growled and lunged at the fire dragon slayer. He missed however, as it seemed that Natsu disappeared from his original position. "Above." Simon looked up to see Natsu was in the air above him, preparing a fire attack.

" **Dark Burst!** " Simon yelled frustratingly.

"-Below."

While Simon's spell cause Natsu to explode in the air above, Simon looked below. He realized that the fiery lacrima under him was gathering energy. Simon's eyes widened as he felt the energy transform into flames and erupt from below him. The sudden eruption of fire magic gnawed on Simon's skin and eventually launched him up in the air. Natsu, who supposedly got hit from Simon's magic, seemed unharmed and spiraled downward to Simon's chest.

Natsu successfully plunged into Simon, causing Natsu to get the upperhand for once.

" **Fire Dragon's Spiraling Kick!** " Natsu roared as flames wrapped around his foot and then spread to Simon. Simon's eyes widened and he couldn't hide a scream of pain when he noticed the significant change in Natsu's power. Just before, it didn't hurt that much. Then after that spell, the damage felt considerably more painful and lethal.

However, Simon didn't lose this opportunity to damage Natsu. " **Dark Burst! Dark Burst!** " While the spell was solely meant for Natsu, Simon himself was inflicted with damage because of the close range. Simon kept repeating his spell until they crashed back onto the surface of the top of the tower. They crashed with Simon taking most of the fall damage because he was beneath Natsu.

Natsu was breathing rather quickly and heavily, he actually had to grab his neck to help him breathe just a bit better. And the damage from all of Simon's attacks didn't go unnoticed. His clothing was all torn and ripped, showing all the cuts and huge bruises all over his body.

"It hurts. It hurts! It hurts!" Natsu couldn't restrain himself from screaming. He pointed his rage to Simon, so his fist lit up in flames, preparing to finish off Simon.

"Don't kill him!"

Natsu turned around and remembered that Erza was still here. Suddenly Natsu let all the heat cool down. The lacrima and temperature was back to what it was used to. Blue and normal temperature. Since the temperature was so hot just seconds ago, normal temperature felt like a blizzard to everyone.

While Natsu was distracted even for a second, Simon decided to chant another 'Dark Burst!' towards Natsu. However, Simon was stopped when a sword stabbed right through the lacrima floor just one millimeter away from his neck.

Erza looked at him with sorrowful eyes. "Simon, what happened to you?" While she knew that Simon was most likely possessed by something, she still had to ask the question.

"E- Erza…" Simon coughed out, his voice was back to normal.

"Can you hear me?" Erza asked, her eyes were still cautious.

"Yes..." Simon smiled.

Tears started to form around Erza's eyes. "Simon…" she started to sob.

"So… so sorry." Simon also started crying. "The darkness… it reached me… The next thing I knew, I couldn't control myself and…"Simon's eyes suddenly widened and his voice trailed off. Some sort of inked characters started to spread out around Simon until it eventually covered his whole body.

"SIMON?!" The scarlet haired mage gasped, as it seemed like the characters were choking Simon until he breathed his last.

Erza shot one last look of horror at Simon as she recognized those characters. Those looked like the exact same characters she saw in the underground ruins of Galuna island. But she didn't have time to dwell on that. Her sobs were heard by all the reappearing stars in the sky and she collapsed on to her friend.

Simon's heart was un-beating, his mouth was not breathing. He was gone.

The next thing the world knew was a tearful scream from atop the Tower of Heaven.

...

If only the world would let her mourn longer.

The whole lacrima tower started shaking terrifyingly. Erza was brought out of her misery and realized that the tower was unstable from all the damage that was done to it. She looked at Natsu who was coughing uncontrollably.

"Natsu!" She rushed to the severely injured dragon slayer. "What's wrong!"

"C-Cant Br- breathe!" Natsu huffed and hacked dangerously. His pupils shrank as he was trying to focus on the lungs of his body.

"What should I do?"

Erza frantically looked around to find if she could do anything.

"The tower's getting out of control, the least I can do is buy you some time to catch your breath!" Erza muttered, she was thinking about fusing with the lacrima. "Besides, I'm tired of taking your orders today."

"Y-ou C-a- can't!"

Erza smiled gently at Natsu. "It's my turn to save you. Accept my sacrifice."

"You C-can't!" Natsu repeated. "I-I mean, t-tow-wer w-on't accept- anyone- at th-this point." Natsu pushed his head up to look at Erza. Despite his whole respiratory system panicking, Natsu grabbed Erza's arm. "G-get Ul-tear and- Jellal-. I -another- -trick- up my sleeve!"

Erza was reluctant to obey Natsu. Whatever trick Natsu had up his sleeve probably included magic. And using magic in his state was probably not a good idea…

"No." Erza made up her mind and she wiped away her tears. "We're getting out of this my way."

She requiped into her black wing armour and a rope appeared in her hands. Quickly, she tied herself, Jellal, and Ultear to the rope. Finally, she picked up Natsu who still had not recovered his breathing.

She smiled. "Together."

Natsu coughed out a smile.

And together, Erza ran on the unstable tower, Jellal and Ultear tied to her back, her black wing armor included wings and she prepared for flight. With enough momentum, Erza thrust herself with the others off the building. Her wings caught wind and flapped hard and it was enough to keep all four of them in the air.

Eyes closed, Natsu muttered with a look of embarrassment, "F-friends?"

"Friends." Erza smiled. "Which means you're going to spill the beans when you recover!"

Natsu pretended not to hear her. His breathing finally returned back to normal.

A woman, carrying a man in bridal style with two people tied behind her back, flying under the night sky full of stars.

"How stupid this must look." Natsu chuckled.

"As long as I get to save my friends." Erza smiled, before looking back. The Tower of Heaven glowed brightly and exploded in silence. She thought of Simon… The force of the explosion pushed Erza in the sky, towards a the mainland.

"Argh!" Erza tried to steady her flying while Natsu wore a peaceful look.

 _Look at me Igneel! I can touch the sky without wings!_ Natsu laughed at the thought, which made Erza give him another worried glance.

 _Wait a minute, I'm being carried throughout the air by a person. Isn't that transportation?_ Natsu got sick at the thought. They finally officially established their friendship, yet he was still getting sick. He guessed that there was no one who could carry him quite like Happy could.

Oh no… He's going to hurl…

"Natsu?"

*Barf*

* * *

( **A/N: I hope when you read the word 'characters' from many paragraphs ago, you thought about the symbols, like kanji or chinese characters. Not characters as in people.** )

* * *

 **All props goes to Jalis for the idea of "Fire Dragon's Afterburn." If anyone else reading this message doesn't know what this move is, then that's good because you're not supposed to know yet. :P (Although I hope I did use this move accurately and it lived up to its expectation. It's too bad my writing skills are imperfect.)**

 **Review Please~**

 **Reviews~~~**

 **Tobias97:Oh great I feel bad for not getting that reference! Sorry (Even though I shouldn't apologize for no reason). Don't worry, saying "Great Chapter" is great. I would understand, I'm lazy too. :D  
**

 **Guest: Yep, Angel just did that xD  
**

 **Jajs: Aw... You have motion sickness too?  
**

 **Ysyzudu: I will, thanks for the extra motivation! It'll be like running a marathon!.. Well after my test.  
**


	15. Home

**Chapter 15**

 **Home**

Gray and the others had finally reached the mainland. Oh how much they prayed for Erza and the others' safety. But when they saw the tower suddenly explode and collapse all hope drained from their faces.

That hope quickly built up again when they saw _that._ A woman, carrying a man in bridal style with two people tied behind her back, flying under the night sky full of stars. That really looked stupid. The group quickly burst into laughter and joy when they saw that.

"Let's go meet them." Gray announced as he started running to where Erza was going to land.

Erza gazed down at Natsu. He wore such a peaceful face that it was hard to believe that he experienced near death a few times in the Tower. Maybe it was more easier to believe that he just died with a peaceful look on.

…

"Natsu?" Erza called out his name to make sure he was still alive.

"Yes?" Natsu muttered without opening his eyes.

Erza sighed in relief as she landed on the mainland. She gently placed Natsu on the ground and untied herself from Jellal and Ultear then she requipped back into her Heart Kreuz armor. That was when she froze in terror. On her right wrist were black inked characters marked on her skin. The characters looked almost exactly like ones that was on Simon's body. She wasn't an idiot to know what those characters could do. If she could explain what those characters were, it'd be like a curse possessing the host. That could be the only reason Simon attacked them like that right?

Without panicking, she slowly went to the ocean and tried washing away the characters from her skin. It worked.

She sighed in relief and looked back to where Natsu and the others were supposed to be. She was hit with a wave of surprise when she realized Natsu and Ultear were missing. She rushed to where they were supposed to be to look for any clues. Natsu should have left some trail of blood and Ultear should have been able to leave some footprints. But there were no clues, it was like they just vanished without a trace. Erza considered trying to trace the missing mages but then she heard a groan.

She turned her head to find Jellal was the source of that groan. She sweated and shifted her arms uncomfortably because she didn't know how to react to meeting her old friend again. That is, if Jellal was back to normal after Ultear undid the possession magic -which Erza would fight the mage for doing so in the near future-. Her gentle eyes met that of Jellal's when he opened his eyes.

They stared at eachother for seconds. It was like time stopped.

"Erza?" Jellal finally said.

Said mage kept quiet. She was waiting for some sadistical comment.

"Why are you looking at me like that? Do I have something on my face?" Jellal's face contorted to a look of confusion. "Where am I anyway?"

 _This is a trick._ Erza thought.

The two kept staring at eachother. Erza was trying to figure out whether or not Jellal was acting, and Jellal gave Erza one hell of a time doing that with his poker face.

Unexpectedly, Jellal gasped and a look of fear struck his face. Erza thought it was because she was giving him a death glare. Jellal stared at his hands and legs as if he had noticed somsomething.

"Erza!" In the distance Gray and the others were running their way.

Erza looked behind her and instinctively covered her right arm with her left hand. "Everyone?!"

"Who's that?" Gray panted as he pointed to a fleeing blue haired man.

Erza turned around to find that Jellal, the only person it could be, was running away from her. She was about to unleash her fury but she suddenly felt a painful jolt in her leg. She quietly held in her breath but she was obviously in pain.

"Never mind that." Gray said. "We need to get you to a doctor." Sho and the others nodded in agreement.

Erza let out her breath. The exhaustion slowly took her to sleep.

* * *

 **~Akane Resort~~~**

Gray in the others somehow made it through all the security and made it to the large main hall of the hotel. Crowds were buzzing and the casino hall was exploding.

"I can't believe you got us in the resort." Gray stared in awe of all the fancy casinos and games as he wandered around.

"Wally and I are pretty popular in this resort." Sho smirked proudly.

"What about me?" Milliana acted offended that Sho did not mention her.

"And the people here are afraid of Milliana, they let her stay so Milliana's wrath wouldn't be incurred."

"Hey!" Milliana pouted as she angrily pounded Sho's head.

"Will Erza be okay with those doctors you left her with?" Gray asked, feeling concern for his scarlet-haired friend.

"She'll be fine. Wally's with her so Erza-nee will be safe. I'll go there too if you want!" Milliana smiled.

"Uh that's okay-" but Milliana left anyway. "Okay… How about you Sho? I think you should join them. It's been awhile since you spent any time with Erza."

"Uh you think so?" Sho nervously scratched his cheek.

"Yeah!" Gray slapped Sho's back which forced Sho to head towards the doctors and everyone else.

Gray sighed and he put his hands in his pockets. It was a miracle his clothes were still on. "Maybe I should look for Natsu…"

"Gray?" Said person jerk his head to whoever said his name. He found Lucy waving at him, with Levy, a tall black haired person, and a cat.

"What are you doing here?" Gray calmly asked while analyzing the unfamiliar man.

"We're taking a short vacation. How about you?" Lucy noticed how Gray and Gajeel were suddenly sent into an intense standoff. "Oh, you guys haven't met yet. Gray, this is Gajeel. Gajeel, this is Gray."

"..." A crowd started gathering around them in interest.

"Okay, you both can stop glaring at each other like enemies now."

"I won't stop glaring at that guy until he stops glaring at me." Gray muttered.

"You took the words out of my mouth." Gajeel said.

"Could you guys stop acting like children?" Carla facepalmed.

As minutes passed, Lucy decided to leave Gray and Gajeel alone. She left with Levy and Carla to their rooms.

…

"Ha! You blinked!" Gajeel yelled in triumph.

"Ah- Whatever!" Gray scratched his head, disappointed in himself. "So where are you from. Are you Lucy's boyfriend or Levy's boyfriend? Or both?" Gray raised an eyebrow at Gajeel.

"Don't torment me with those words, Dammit!"

Gray acted satisfied until he noticed a certain mark on Gajeel's shoulder. _Phantom Lord…_ With no time wasted, Gray pinned Gajeel to the floor and created an ice sword and held it against Gajeel's neck.

"You're part of Phantom Lord. So why you're with Lucy and Levy?"

"Gihihi."

Suddenly an iron sword was held against Gray's neck. "I should ask who you are too."

They were both held neck and neck by each other's swords. One move would mean blood.

"Argh!" Both of their swords were suddenly kicked away from each other's throats and someone grabbed their ears in anger. "I already introduced the both of you! Now dispel your weapons before we all get banned from here." Lucy sighed as she slapped both of their faces.

"Let's go you two!"

"Yes…" Gray and Gajeel both held their cheeks in defeat. Women are scary, they both thought.

As they entered the elevator, Gajeel twitched his head to the sound of a certain voice he caught in his ears.

" _Found You~_ "

Before Gajeel could react, the elevator closed.

"Are you okay? You look very unsettled." Lucy said, noticing the sweat coming from Gajeel.

"No… I'm fine." Gajeel stared wide eyed at the closed elevator door. He could hear another fragment of the voice.

(" _~Dragonslayer.")_

* * *

 **~Three days later~~~**

 _*Snore* Snore*_

" _Is this guy really okay?" Gray said, with a slightly concerned tone._

" _Yeah, seriously… He has been sleeping for three days straight now…" Lucy's voice softly said in disbelief._

" _Natsu! Lucy's wearing a maid outfit and she's singing and dancing for everyone!" That was… Happy's voice?_

" _I'd just be pissed off if that managed to wake him up…"_

" _Whoo~" That was Natsu's own voice._

" _No grinning in your sleep!"_

 _Erza's voice suddenly popped up. "Oh just let him rest a little longer."_

"Guys…" Natsu muttered in his sleep. At least until he realized all the voices were gone and his vision was completed blank. He opened his eyes to find a very familiar ceiling and then he noticed a familiar feeling. _Ugh Motion Sickness…_ He turned his body and noticed he was in a nice comfortable bed. To his right stood Ultear.

"Am I at Grimoire Heart?" Natsu groaned heavily. His body ached everywhere… but recently this seemed to be normal now.

"Oh the sleeping dragon has finally awoken? I was thinking you were dead by now." Ultear smiled.

"Don't tease me." Natsu snapped.

"Oh but isn't that what friends do?" Ultear laughed with a sarcastic, menacing tone.

Natsu closed his eyes. "I should've never made that deal with you. You were completely useless there."

"Aw, I'm hurt. But at least I get to get an answer now."

"Did you purposely do nothing to get on my nerve? *Sigh* Only one question." The dragon slayer muttered in defeat.

"What do you know about Zeref that I don't?" Ultear waited patiently as it seemed Natsu was taking his time to answer this.

"...His last name is Dragneel…" Natsu whispered.

Ultear nodded even though she wasn't all that satisfied with his answer. However, just one thing can lead to many things.

Natsu felt relieved that his answer was so simple. Only four people knew his last name, and he doubted anyone would tell anyone else about that last name. Purehito could keep secrets. Gajeel had amnesia. Well, he hadn't met Wendy and Happy in a long time but Natsu was pretty sure any of them would yell out his last name for no reason.

"So… did you use that forbidden spell again?" Ultear shifted her eyes to the ceiling.

"That's two questions. I'm not going to answer that." Natsu snorted.

"I was just wondering because you seem to have dragon horns protruding from your head. And one of your eyes are golden too. I'd be dumb if I didn't notice that." Ultear pointed out.

"Damn!" Natsu cursed as he placed his hands on his head. Yep, he did feel something hard and sharp on his head. He also didn't need a mirror to know one of his eyes had turned golden. His left eye seemed to have more detailed vision than his right.

"Are you going to turn into a dragon then?"

"I don't know." Natsu sighed, at least he was grateful the more noticeable things haven't formed yet. Like a tail or wings…

"Care to explain?" Ultear decided to sit in a chair now.

"I'd rather not but knowing you, you'd probably get the answers out of someone else- if there was anybody else who knew of this." Natsu sighed again. He wondered from where he should start explaining things.

"Right now, each dragonslayer is holding their own dragon, or 'parent', inside of them. Supposedly, dragonslayers can turn into dragons if they use too much of their power or if they 'slay a lot of dragons'. To prevent this, the dragons decided to 'go inside' of their dragonslayer, or 'child', to plant Dragonification Antibodies.

"Dragonification Antibodies help slow down or stop the Dragonification process. The only downside of this is that the antibodies put limits to our power.

"However, the move Fire Dragon's Afterburn weakens and destroys these speeds up the Dragonification and loosens the limits the antibodies put on my power. This would in turn give me a burst of Draconic power and it raises my sensitivity three times than normal, making me take double damage. That's why my whole damn body still hurts so much!" Natsu complained as he didn't dare to make a muscle move in his body. Rest is good.

"Did the dragons teach you this move?" Ultear asked. She thought it would be weird that the dragons would just give the dragonslayers antibodies and then just teach them a move to destroy those antibodies.

"No. For this move, I went to do a lot of research with Brain. It was a pain in the neck because I didn't know how to read. Heck, I still have no idea how to read."

"So you were useless during this research project." Ultear stated.

"Shut up. Brain just had an interest on dragonslayers so he and I worked together for awhile. Through that, I learned FIre Dragon's Afterburn."

"Wait, if the dragon is still inside you, then why are you turning into a dragon? By what you said, you shouldn't be transforming- or at least you shouldn't be transforming into a dragon so fast."

"Don't refer to Igneel as 'the dragon'." Natsu barked. "Well… that's what I thought too. That's why I'm planning on meeting with Brain soon."

Ultear nodded. "I know this whole friend thing is new to both of us. But as a friend, I suggest you don't meet with Brain anymore."

"Why?"

"How do I say this… The Master thinks you are getting affiliated with too many guilds, dark and light. And… Oracion Seis has become more active lately..."

"So? What does he care? It's not my fault I'm an interesting person." Natsu smirked, which caused him to wince in pain.

"Master thinks you may defect to Fairy Tail. You _have_ been having so much fun there lately." Ultear closed her eyes.

"He can worry all he wants. Although I wouldn't mind quitting this guild to officially join Fairy Tail…" he paused and then facepalmed. "I probably shouldn't be telling you this since you're basically his right hand woman."

Natsu watched Ultra stand up and silence. She looked away from him.

"What? You're going to report this to him?"

"... No." Natsu looked at Ultra in surprise. He wasn't expecting that answer. The time mage inhaled deeply. "You're not the only person who's been touched by the light."

"What does that mean?" Natsu stretched out his limbs to check if everything was functioning properly. They seemed okay, but in hellish pain.

"You don't need to know what I mean."

Natsu stood up. "Okay, I'll be going now!" He walked to the door but Ultear stopped him. "What?"

"You weren't brought here just to talk to little ol' me. The master also wants to have a little conversation with you too. He seems really eager to talk to you, his eyes were bulging and his veins were popping too. I wonder what you did to make him look so _'_ _menacing'_ "

"What? I'm tired of talking!"

"See you later~" Then Ultear vanished. It seemed that that was her thought projection the whole time.

Natsu growled and opened the door. Behind it was Purehito. "What do you want, old man?" He closed his eyes and sighed. This did not bode well with him especially when he doesn't remember why Purehito would be mad with him at all.

 **~Akane Resort~~~**

It was daylight of the fourth day since Erza and the others stayed in Akane resort. The bright sunlight passed through the wide open windows along with a nice breeze of wind. The wall paper shimmered lightly from the sunlight which made the room look all the more majestical.

"Erza! You shouldn't start moving yet!" Gray said, while trying to keep Erza at bay. It didn't really work since Erza requiped a sword and swung the sword at Gray.

"If I can easily use magic against you, then I should be fine. I want to go to Fairy Tail now." Erza smiled.

"Aye." Gray and Lucy squeaked.

"Hey… where are Sho and the others?" The redhead just noticed. After all, she did just wake up.

"Sho and the others left a few days ago. Lucy and the others are here on vacation for some reason." Gray answered.

"I see… Okay Gray, let's go to Fairy Tail now. We're obviously interrupting Lucy's vacation so we should leave."

"Oh no that's fine." Lucy piped up nervously. "Our vacation is already almost over anyway…"

"What? We still have four more days left." The man complained.

"Who is that?"

"Gajeel. Former member of Phantom Lord." Suddenly, in the speed of light, a sword winded up being just one millimeter away from Gajeel's neck. It even took a few seconds for him to even react to the sudden movement.

"He's not an enemy anymore. Please put your sword down now." Levy pleaded. "He helped save us."

"Okay." Erza pointed her sword down. "Let's go now then."

* * *

 **~Magnolia~~~**

"Ah it's been so long." Gray breathed in the fresh air of his home, but there was something off about the town. "Why is it so quiet?"

Lucy walked over to one of the nearby townspeople and asked, "What's happening?"

"Oh dear. It's a terribly sad day here." The woman spoke grimly. "It appears Fairy Tail is holding a funeral for one of it's most precious members."

"Funeral?" Gray, Erza, and Lucy repeated at the same time. They all came to a sudden realization and dashed off to where the funeral was being held.

"Should we go after them?" Levy wondered out loud.

"Nah, I'll go sleep somewhere." Gajeel bluntly stated and started walking an opposite direction.

"Gajeel…" Levy huffed as she went and followed the others.

"..." Carla was silent as she started flying off to Porlyusica's house.

~Meanwhile at the funeral…

"The Magic Council has voted unanimously: The newly opened seat… shall be eternally granted to this woman. Erza Scarlet shall henceforth be counted amongst the ten great holy mages." A man from the magic council said.

"STOP!" Erza yelled.

All heads turned to the voice.

A wave of shock and relief hit the crowd attending the funeral.

"Erza?" One of them wondered.

"SHE'S ALIVE!" Macao yelled while wiping a tear.

The crowd suddenly exploded in joy, wiping clean the dark, gloomy atmosphere.

Erza was suddenly surrounded by bunches of happy people. Her ears started to ache from all the loud cheering though.

"Ahem!" The crowd went silent at the sound of Makarov's voice. They made way for the small master. The two of them made eye-contact, and then they just stared at each other for a while in silence. Makarov's frown slowly turned into a big smile. "Welcome home, Erza."

"Master…" Both of Erza's eyes teared up as she grabbed Makarov to give him a hard bear hug. "I'm home…"

The crowd exploded in cheer once more, to join in with this teary scene. Apparently, after watching Erza and Makarov tear up a bit, the whole crowd suddenly started to burst into tears.

"Erza's back!" Wakaba and a few other grown men cried.

While the crowd was still in uproar, Lucy finally managed to escape from the suffocating crowd and gasped desperately for fresh air. But she smiled, it seems that everyone truly thought Erza died. It's odd, Lucy never really gave a thought to Erza's death. She's been so busy dealing with other problems that she kind of forgot. Lucy felt like a horrible friend for admitting that she forgot about the death. Maybe it was just Natsu's words that kept her from even thinking that Erza actually died. _Believe in her,_ or something along those lines. Speaking of which...

"Need a hand up?" Gray offered Lucy his hand.

"Thanks." Lucy sighed as she grabbed Gray's hand to stand up.

"Seems like everyone's home now." He smiled.

Lucy was about to agree with him but something had been on her mind for a while now.

"But where's Natsu?"

* * *

 **Here's a chapter.**

 **From now, I'm going to try to better pace my chapters, because I think I've been rushing the whole thing.**

 **Please review to tell me about my many flaws.**

 **Thank you readers for everything, even if you did nothing but read. At least you still read despite how awful I am at writing. But I'm getting better... I hope.**

 **And try to have a good day,  
if it isn't good right now then make it good.**


	16. The Voices

**Chapter 16**

 **The Voices**

"Damn it!" Natsu moaned in agony with an unusual squeaky voice.

He was walking in a forest wearing overgrown clothes. Or rather, the clothes were the same but his body was small.

The reason his body was so small: He turned into a kid.

"Damn that old man," Natsu sulked. "I'm crying about small things that only kids would be upset about. I don't even know why I'm crying or why I'm talking to myself. Being a kid again sucks." He wiped a tear off his face, remembering exactly what happened a few hours ago.

* * *

 **~Flashback - An hour ago~**

 _Natsu and Purehito were in the library. With the whole airship still moving, Natsu got sick and immediately got scolded about what would happen if he threw up on any of the books._

" _Natsu…" Purehito said calmly._

 _Natsu slumped on the floor and waited for whatever lecture Purehito would give him._

" _I see you've taken down the Tower of Heaven._

" _You've destroyed Deliora and Lullaby._

" _Even turned in the fake salamander and Eisenwald to the Magic Council._

" _Don't forget ending that little war between Phantom Lord and Fairy Tail."_

 _The dragonslayer nodded without care._

" _You have been doing a lot of good deeds recently."_

" _What's it matter to you?" Natsu finally spoke up, he was getting worried about where this conversation could lead to._

" _Normally it doesn't. I don't really care what anyone in this guild does whether it be bad or good. But…" Purehito was now standing over Natsu with a horrific glare. "It matters to me when you're planning a coup d'etat on me."_

" _What are you talking about?" Natsu was genuinely surprised that Purehito was accusing him of this. Natsu didn't think of himself to do this sort of stuff, especially when the easier option would be to just quit the guild. It's not like Purehito was any kind of bigshot. The only influence he had was over this guild. And this guild wasn't really a great guild even though it's part of the Balam Alliance. Power is all this guild has._

" _You've been getting all friendly with Ultear now. Since then, she hasn't exactly been listening to me or how we could achieve all our goals. She's being rebellious."_

 _This was news. Natsu didn't know Ultear was taking these actions. He thought she was just another blind follower of Purehito's goals because of what happened to her when she was a kid. Looks like that girl can change. 'Touched by light' huh, wonder what happened._

" _It probably won't be long until you convince the other members to overthrow me."_

' _You aren't exactly a king that anyone would care to overthrow. This is a small guild after all' Natsu thought silently._

" _I also know you've talked with old Macky about your whole situation. You're even getting help from Fairy Tail, huh?"_

" _Why are you accusing me of all these things?" Natsu was in deep thought. Every word that came from that old man's mouth was a lie. Natsu was just casually continuing with life because that's how he is. "I did none of everything you said. The only truth you said was probably me becoming friends with Ultear but that's it! Are you sick or something?"_

" _You're just a tool to be used, you shouldn't do what you want. YOU SHOULDN'T BE MAKING ME SO MAD!" His voice boomed._

 _"What the hell are you even talking about?"_

" _ **Don't speak.**_ " _The magic pressure in the room started to rise dramatically. The room was shaking and every object in the room started glowing._

 _Natsu suddenly jumped up from his feet. He stared at Purehito's eye. The eye looked all insane, there was no control or guidance within it. The light had always been gone but now there's no conscience._

" _ **Everything was better when you were just an obedient little brat!**_ "

 _Natsu's eyes widened. "You've gone crazy." He ran to the nearest exit but his leg was caught by something._

" _ **Chain Magic.**_ "

" _Damn it old man, what are you doing!" Natsu yelled but the chains that grasped his leg pulled him around and smashed him into the books and walls of the library until Natsu brutally ripped apart the chains from his leg, tossing him into a stack of books. He immediately jumped out of the books and looked at Purehito. He sniffed the air._

" _This scent, you have that same cursed scent as that other guy named Simon or something." Natsu realized. Does this mean there's some force out there that's possessing people or something? He also just realized that Purehito was reading out loud the words of a book in his hands. If only Natsu could read the cover. Damn his reading skills._

 _When Purehito's lips stopped moving, he pointed his finger towards Natsu._

" _Oh give me a break." Natsu sighed._

 _A small ball of light appeared from Purehito's fingers and it exploded towards Natsu. He tried to counterattack but all his magic started failing, he didn't know if it was because he hadn't fully recovered or because of this magic._

 _The magic blasted Natsu through a wall which happened to lead outside of Grimoire Heart's Airship._

" _Oh dang it." He braced himself as he was falling at an insane speed towards the ocean. At the same time, he didn't notice how his body was slowly morphing into that of his small kid state. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" His voice went from deep to high and just as he plunged into the ocean, his whole body turned into his kid self._

 _~End of flashback~_

* * *

It was so hard just swimming all over to the mainland with such small limbs and now he has to walk a million miles to go there. Where was there anyway? Where was he going? Where could he go?

Natsu tripped over himself and he fell flat to the ground. The soft grass covered his face but it couldn't muffle the quiet sobs Natsu was making.

He sniffled. "Oh great I'm crying again…" His eyes watered up. "Why is it so hard to not cry when you're a kid?" He sobbed again and rubbed his face.

He sat up. "This is so unlike me… *sniff* This is so weak of me." When his eyes started to water again he punched himself. "I have to stop *sniff* crying. *crack* Ow…" He looked at his crippled body. It appeared that even though he transformed into a kid his injuries still stayed. The only good thing was that this transformation reversed his draconic transformation, for now at least.

"I've survived getting crushed to a wall, getting stabbed everywhere, falling from the sky and more. I should survive this."

He rubbed his eyes of the last tears. "Purehito left me, like everyone else…" Natsu didn't care if the old man was possessed or not, all those words he said still hurt him. Being left behind hurts. It's an action that keeps happening, and yet Natsu was still not used to the heartache.

Suddenly, a flash of an image zipped through his mind. It was an image of the Fairy Tail building.

"If I go there, I might be left behind again…"

Images of him playing with Igneel and Zeref popped up. Him fishing with Happy. Him getting playfully scolded with by old Purehito. Him watching all the fairy tail members brawl with each other.

"If images like these keep popping in my head then I'll start to think that it's my fate to go to Fairy Tail, to be left again."

He looked at his right shoulder. The Fairy Tail mark. He tugged at the grass floor and started crawling forward.

"But it just might be a risk worth taking…"

* * *

 **~Fairy Tail Building~~~**

"Woah Erza, you're a Wizard Saint now?" Max gasped at Erza along with other Fairy Tail members.

"Uh, well-"

"Really? You accepted the title? Wow Erza I didn't think you liked big fancy titles." Cana said astoundingly while drinking her fifth barrel of liquor.

"I-"

"Woah! Do you know what this does for the reputation of the guild?"

"Would you guys stop interrupting me?" Erza yelled, which silenced the whole guild. "Stop talking about it and just talk about something else!"

At that, everyone obeyed Erza and talked about something else. Cana decided to sit next to Erza with a very important matter to discuss. "I know I'm not supposed to say this to you but… while you were presumably dead, we found your dead body. Well I guess it's not _your_ dead body but we found a body that looked astonishing like you. It was dropped from the sky by a rather unusual bird."

"What?" Erza quietly burst out.

"Yeah, that was the body that we laid in the coffin at ' _your'_ funeral.

"How come no one told me of this?"

"Well… because the body looked exactly like you, we thought it'd be disturbing to tell you a thing about this. Although I thought I had to tell you..."

Erza closed her eyes. Was that what Jellal meant when he said 'Fairy Tail should be getting the gift by now'? Her knuckles clenched. "Could you show me the body sometime? I want to see if by any chance this is a clone or illusion or something."

"Sure, but I'm just saying Master and Porlyusica already confirmed it's real."

The Scarlet haired mage nodded and Cana left.

Meanwhile, Gray and Lucy slided into the table Erza was sitting at.

"Come on Erza." Gray whispered contently. "What's your real reason for accepting the title of Wizard Saint."

"Gray-sama is so brave." Juvia popped up and giggled.

"Woah where'd you come from?" Lucy wondered.

"Wherever Gray is, Juvia is there too."

"Um, okay." Lucy sweatdropped.

Juvia's eyes flashed and she whispered to Lucy, "Love Rival."

Erza put her hands on the table. "I told everyone that no one will speak of this."

"But everyone knows that if you had a choice to become a Wizard Saint, you'd decline immediately. What I think is that you have a secret agenda with this."

Lucy nodded in agreement with Gray. "I heard you once declined the position before."

Erza sighed, "Okay, it's true that I don't like being called Wizard Saint. I took the title for certain things. They say Wizard Saints are privileged to talk with the councilmen whenever they want as long as neither are currently in busy matters."

"And?" Lucy said.

"I've been waiting to have a certain conversation with Natsu but he's nowhere to be seen. So I'm waiting to have a meeting with Ultear, she seems to have a lot of knowledge on Natsu."

"I see." Gray said. "So you're going to force some answers out of Ultear."

"And I'm also going to pound her for messing around with Jellal like that." Erza muttered.

"What was that?" Lucy asked.

"I'm going out for some fresh air, want to come?"

Gray shrugged while Lucy nodded. Juvia was about to follow too, but a certain barmaid stopped her. As the group exited the building they saw a certain person walking with another certain person.

* * *

 **~In the woods~~~**

Gajeel was sitting comfortably on top of a few strong tree branches. His arms were crossed above his chest and his head rested on a bird's nest. A somewhat comfortable bird's nest he might add. He was however snoring loudly, disturbing the other peace for the other inhabitants in the forest.

"Gajeel!"

*Snore*

"Gajeel!"

Gajeel snapped up and opened his eyes. "What?" He looked down to see Levy with a stern face. "Oh, it's just you Shrimp." Then he curled his legs and turned to his side.

"Good night." He yawned.

Levy bit her lip and fumed. " **Solid Script: Boom.** " She drew the words in the air and they approached Gajeel slowly. As soon as the words were an inch away from Gajeel's ear, the words popped and made a very loud 'BOOM' noise.

"AH My Ears!" Gajeel screamed a bit but then he calmed down. He looked at Levy with a very cranky look on his face. "You have my attention…"

Levy tried to suppress her giggle. She coughed, "Gajeel, you said you'd join Fairy Tail as soon as you got out of Porlyusica's house."

"I changed my mind." Gajeel yawned.

"Why?"

"I think I should be searching for my memories instead of joining your guild."

"And your idea of searching is cooping up on a few branches and sleeping there for a day?" Levy seemed a bit confused at this logic.

"I can't really search for it right now. I'm kind of waiting for a clue." Gajeel scratched his head.

"And you think that that clue is just going to fall from the sky and land right next to you?"

"Yeah, something like that."

Levy facepalmed, "I wonder if you were smart even before your amnesia." She looked up at Gajeel and then she herself sat down on the ground.

"What are you doing?" Gajeel asked, looking down on Levy.

"I'm not moving until you come with me to Fairy Tail."

"Whatever you say." He rolled his eyes, then suddenly a small gust of wind hit him.

 _("Dragonslayer…")_

Gajeel jerked his head to the direction the wind was blowing. That voice again!

 _("We're not finished yet…")_

He immediately leaped down from the tree and ran in a certain direction.

"Gajeel?" Levy flinched. Then without second thought, she rushed after him.

 _(Yes… Move forward. Maybe you'll find your memories if you keep moving.")_

Gajeel growled as he sped up, not thinking about where he was going.

 _(Or maybe you'll-)_

"Gah!" The iron dragonslayer said as a reflex to tripping over something. As soon as he unpleasantly landed on the floor, he quickly got up. He looked back to look at what had tripped him. The smell crinkled his nose, it was all bloody and it reeked of curses. His eyes widened at the sight.

Levy finally caught up. She covered her mouth and widened her eyes.

"Salamander?" He gasped in surprise.

* * *

 **~Outside Fairy Tail~~~**

"Ultear?" Gray blurted out loud. "Looks like your meeting with her came immediately."

"Jellal?" Erza was the next person to blurt out a name so suddenly. Jellal looked away from Erza immediately and he showed that his hands were in magic-seal cuffs. The two groups approached each other in awkward silence.

"So Gray, are you going to stop staring at me?" Ultear said with a serious face.

"Uh… Yeah." Gray turned his eyes to Erza who seemed to be nervous around this 'Jellal'.

Erza sighed. "Why is he here?" She asked Ultear.

"So you guys could protect him or something." Ultear smiled.

"Protect him from what?"

"A certain dark guild. You may know them as Oracion Seis."

"Oracion Seis is after this guy? You mean the Oracion Seis from the Balam Alliance?" Lucy gasped.

"Yes, they tried to capture him just five minutes ago."

"Wait, who is this guy?" Gray asked.

"His name is Jellal. He's the one that kidnapped Erza and took her to the Tower of Heaven via teleportation." Ultear stated, she noticed how Erza and Jellal both flinched at those words.

"If he did that, then he should be powerful enough to protect himself. No wait, he should be off to jail." Gray growled.

"I thought of bringing him to prison but then I remembered how keen Natsu was on saving _both_ Erza and Jellal. Plus, the Council is on a shutdown due to the confusion of the whole incident. They don't know who was the mastermind of the Tower of Heaven project, yet."

"Oh." Erza remembered how in the battle against Simon, Natsu kept saying to protect Ultear _and_ Jellal.

"That doesn't explain why this guy can't protect himself." Gray grumbled.

"Ever since the Tower of Heaven incident, Jellal's magic have suddenly grown unstable." Ultear turned around to show her wrists. There were magic seal cuffs on her too. "My magic had also grown unstable enough that I couldn't exactly control it anymore. It's kind of hard to protect yourself when the other side has magic and you don't." Ultear answered. "He's yours, try to protect this guy will you?"

Lucy and Gray were stunned. First, a person they barely know comes by with a criminal. Now she's forcing them to take care of this criminal. Are they missing some important information?

Just as Ultear was about to walk away again, Erza grabbed her hand. "Wait."

"Hmm?"

"Where's Natsu?"

Ultear stepped back in surprise. "I thought he already came back to Fairy Tail."

"He hasn't. I wondering if you knew, but judging by your reaction, you probably don't know either."

Ultear broke Erza's grip. "You're right, I don't. Now if you excu-"

"You're not going anywhere." Erza caught Ultear's arm again. "I challenge you to a duel."

Gray and Lucy's jaws hit the floor while Jellal just facepalmed.

"You're challenging a disabled person to a duel? You know I can't use magic right now."

Erza smiled. "Is that your excuse? I could always just put some magic seal cuffs on myself too."

"Don't, you both are injured enough already." Gray insisted but they didn't listen.

"What do I get when I win? I wouldn't think you have anything I want." Ultear asked.

Erza shrugged. She didn't really think too hard on this. "Not when, _if._ You could be my friend."

"This again?" Ultear sighed. "N-"

Suddenly, a small voice whispered in the wind, _("I could bring your mother back from the dead.")_

"What?" Ultear gasped.

"I said I could be your friend. If that's not enough I could also… *gulp* buy you a… strawberry cake…" Erza's voice was barely a whisper by then.

The voice came to Ultear again.

 _(If you stay in Fairy Tail for a while. Ur will come back…)_

Ultear shook her head as if to throw the voice out of her head. She didn't care about that woman anymore, right? "What happens if you win?"

Erza smirked and she pointed to her heart. "You'll be personally guarded by the world's finest mages, Fairy Tail, because you can't use magic as well. You'll also have to answer my list of questions, like where Natsu is."

"I told you I didn't know where he was."

"Yes, I believe you on that part. But I meant where Natsu works. I'm not dumb enough to not realize that Natsu is hiding something big."

"Everyone has secrets." In Ultear's mind, she was facepalming at the fact that Natsu is such a horrible spy.

"And everyone needs to open up or those secrets will soon get the better of them." Erza this, remembering how her past caught up with her at the Tower of Heaven.

Ultear looked away when the wind started blowing harder, so she expected another faint whisper. There was no response.

Was there any point in this duel? Ultear thought in her mind. She shook her head again. There's no harm. Anyway, it seems that after just one ridiculous deal, it's now easier to accept more ridiculous deals.

"I accept this duel." She stuck her hand out. "But I'll win."

Erza shook Ultear's hand. "We'll see about that."

* * *

 **Okay, I should've probably written a bit more scenes with Natsu and Purehito talking to each other. That way you guys could probably understand why Natsu is so sad. But I guess you guys know that Purehito basically raised him for 6 years and that's a good enough Second Foster Father-Son relationship.**

 **I also have to say: Poor Natsu. I keep accidentally torturing him.  
**

 **Review :3  
**

 **Thanks for reading.**


	17. The Feeling of Dark Magic

**Chapter 17**

 **The Feeling of Dark Magic  
**

The wind stopped blowing. There was no noise. The voice didn't sound in Gajeel's ears again.

"We have to call Porlyusica." Levy gasped.

"Why? He looks fine to me. Although I wonder why he looks like a kid right now." Gajeel said, without any concern for the severe injured Natsu. Instead he was more focused on where the voice could have gone. Levy noticed Gajeel's desire to look for something that has to do with the voice he heard and she sighed in disbelief.

"How could you be so selfish? Shouldn't you at least help Natsu first before you do anything else?" Levy began to pick up Natsu.

"Why should I care about Salamander? He's strong enough, I think he's survived worse."

Levy sighed again. "Have your emotions disappeared like that memory of yours or have you always been emotionless? We're going to help him because he's our friend!" Her voice rose at the last part.

"Friends? I don't see him as a friend and I don't see you hanging around him like a friend. You guys have barely talked, what kind of friend doesn't talk to their friend?" Gajeel laughed, he thought this idea of this friend was ridiculous.

Upon hearing those words, Levy smacked Gajeel in the face and her own body stiffened. She looked furiously at him. "At least he saved me from you!"

Gajeel flinched at those words.

"And he saved you from your lack of knowledge of everything. I guess with you having amnesia, you don't really know which path you were going down…" Levy's voice softened. "I was suspicious of Natsu from the moment he joined the guild. Everyone was. It was until he defeated Phantom Lord that I realized I should've got to know him better before assuming he was bad."

"But when I met you…" Levy continued, "I thought that I needed to help you first. You didn't seem to be friendly but I thought I should get to know you better before I assumed you were just a bad guy at heart."

Gajeel was speechless. He couldn't think of anything to say, anything he wanted to say.

"But it looks like you're just a selfish jerk!" Levy announced and she stomped off with an unconscious Natsu in her arms. She declared, "I'm going to Porlyusica's house. You can go search for your stupid memories now."

Shocked that Levy could say such words left Gajeel thinking deeply. Frustrated with the event that just took place, Gajeel transformed his arm into an iron hammer and he slammed it against a few trees. The trees quickly broke apart from their trunks and started to topple over.

"Kyaaa!" Unexpectedly, a person fell out of one of the trees.

After seeing who it was, Gajeel sighed, "It's just the cat."

"Yeah, thanks for knocking this cat from the tree." Carla hmphed. She noticed how Gajeel didn't reply with a disrespectful comment as he would usually do, she guessed the reason was because he was upset about what Levy said about him.

"If you didn't like the outcome of your conversation with that girl, you still have a chance to apologize or something." Carla crossed her arms.

"Why should I apologize?" The dragon slayer complained, not seeing how whatever happened was his fault at all.

"It's obvious. That girl wants to help you. You're refusing her help. She's getting tired of constantly having to push you to see how she can help you."

"What the hell does that mean?"

Carla sighed. "She's smart. She knows how to help you regain your memory but you're being too stubborn."

"Why didn't she say something before?"

"You're dumb. You recklessly charge at anyone who seems to have known you."

"I did not."

"You charged at Wendy. Before that, you got pretty angry at Natsu because he didn't really provide you with much information."

As Gajeel was about to speak up, Carla added, "You seem to very focused on your unknown past rather than what's happening around you now."

"So what am I supposed to do?"

Carla facepalmed. "Idiot."

"I kidding!" Gajeel lied. "Well, I guess that was some insightful information."

The cat didn't fall for his lie. She couldn't believe there were people this dense.

Just when Gajeel turned around, he stopped in his tracks. "Wait a minute, why were you in that tree?" He asked Carla.

"I was picking herbs used in medicine."

"No." Gajeel's nose twitched. "Then why do you reek of dark magic?"

Carla shifted uncomfortably.

"You don't need to tell me now. Right now I'm a selfish jerk who's only concerned about his past."

The cat shrugged, her eyes were pointing to the ground.

"Of course, when I regain my memories, you'll have to spill it." His voice echoed throughout the woods while he rushed towards Porlyusica's house. "And I won't forget this!"

Carla smiled sadly. She silently mouthed to herself, "Sure… If I'm not gone yet…"

* * *

The sun was finally down by the time Gajeel arrived at the old healer's house. Just as he was about to knock, the door swung open.

"Gajeel?" Levy quietly exclaimed in surprise.

"Um... I want to say I think I'm sorry." Gajeel looked sideways and scratched the side of his head. Nope, he was definitely not used to speaking like this.

"Why're you here? I thought you were too busy searching for your memories," she scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"Well, the cat told me that you knew of a way to help me regain my memories."

Levy sighed. "So you came here because Carla said that I may know of a way to unlock those memories? Not because you changed your mind about something?"

"Why else would I come here? And what would I change my mind on?" Gajeel asked with true honesty, it seemed like he knew he didn't understand girls or just Levy.

Another sigh from the bookworm. She went inside and signaled Gajeel to come in too. "I'm no doctor but usually when someone suffers from memory loss, the easiest way to regain their memory is time and for that person to be around something that seems familiar to them."

Gajeel nodded, he was about to also ask where Porlyusica was but he kept his mouth shut.

"It's unfortunate, but it's a coincidence that Natsu was turned into a kid. He said that you guys knew each other when you were young, right? Maybe if you see him in his young state, you might remember something."

"That's it?"

"Well, it might not work. I'd still say it's worth a shot." Levy smiled, then quickly hid that smile before Gajeel noticed. "I need to go now."

"Why?"

"Uh… I need to tell the master of what's happened to Natsu. Oh, and Porlyusica is currently out gather materials to help heal Natsu. When she gets back, prepare for a beating!"

"Um… Okay." The door slammed. Gajeel then pushed himself to the room where Porlyusica normally treats her patients. There, he saw a kid Natsu sleeping peacefully.

"So I'm supposed to look at the Salamander?" He said to himself. He huffed and slumped down on a chair next to the bed. He inhaled deeply and concentrated on that soft, chubby face of Natsu's. Nothing was popping up in his mind. Seconds passed by slowly. The seconds then turned to minutes and the minutes turned into an hour. It was also getting dark, so Gajeel couldn't stop himself from sleeping.

And there was no escape from a certain vivid dream.

 _..._

 _"Ha...ha… I've finally found you, the one they call Salamander." Said a younger version of Gajeel. He was currently sweating and breathing deeply due to just climbing a really steep and tall hill._

 _"Who's Salamander? And I don't know you, I think you got the wrong person." A pink haired child turned around. Natsu._

 _"Well, I don't know you either. But I heard you're the strongest here and it's my job to beat all the strongest people!"_

 _"Why would you waste your life on a stupid goal like that?" Natsu chuckled, while turning back to stare at the sky. "I guess children always had unbelievable imaginations- er wait, I'm a kid too..."_

 _"It's not stupid! I just have to be the strongest!" Gajeel roared in a tiny squeaky voice._

 _"Hehe, why do you have to be the strongest?"_

 _"...So I can find my father… He disappeared a month ago without saying anything…" Gajeel's mouth was trembling and his fists were tightly clenched._

 _"You're such a crybaby." Natsu bluntly said, while immediately getting an angry remark from Gajeel. "So what's your father look like? I'd rather look for him than fight. Fighting is too much of a hassle for me right now."_

 _"You wouldn't believe me." His voice was barely a whisper._

 _"I think I would. A lot of unbelievable stuff happened to me before so I think I can believe whatever ridiculousness comes from your mouth- except for 'being the strongest' part.'"_

 _"He looks like a dragon." Gajeel braced himself for the laughter that he thought was to come. After all, everyone laughs after he said his father was a dragon. There was no laughter from this kid though… maybe it was because this kid was just a kid?_

 _"A dragon huh? Woah, so that means you're Gajeel, huh?"_

 _"How do you know my name?"_

 _Natsu turned around to fully look at Gajeel. "Woah… Although I thought you would've acted more... tough, being trained by Metalicana and all…"_

 _"Wait! How do you know all this stuff?"_

 _"Because…" Natsu made his voice sound deeper. "I am your father."_

 _"WHA- YOU'RE Metalicana?"_

 _"I'm just kidding!" Natsu immediately collapsed in laughter. "You're so gullible! I can't wait to see Metalicana face when he sees what kind of a kid you turned out to be just after one month! Well… I guess he already knows, but still- Oh damn it, why am I acting like such a kid?"_

 _At Natsu's joke, Gajeel got very frustrated, so frustrated that he started to use magic._

 _"Iron Dragon's Roar!" A tornado of iron shards hurled towards Natsu._

 _Gajeel expected to have immediately won because that move worked on everyone else, but things went way out of his expectations. Natsu, who was still recovering from his laughter, waved an arm at the spiral of iron shards and said, with a small smile, "Burn." And at that word, all the iron that Gajeel created had suddenly melted into molten iron. Before any drop hit the ground, Natsu inhaled deeply and all the molten iron went to his mouth. *Swallow*_

 _"Thanks for the meal." Natsu patted his belly. "Sorry, I guess I can't help you find your father but I guess I could still fight you. If you still want to see if you can beat me."_

 _Since Gajeel was still too idiotic and dense for his own good, he accepted Natsu's challenge._

 _The battle ended in one second. Gajeel was on the ground, his whole body was smoking._

 _"Hey, if it helps you feel better, most people don't get past half a second."_

 _"Curse you…" It seemed like the iron dragon slayer was in a bit of a daze. Just as his vision started to become clear again, Natsu pulled Gajeel up._

 _"So it looks like I'm stronger than you. What are you going to do now?" Natsu asked._

 _"I… I want you to train me! -I think."_

 _"What? But I thought most idiots would just want a rematch." There was disappointment in Natsu's voice._

 _"I'm not an idiot!"_

 _"Fine fine, I guess I'll have to 'train' you, Metalicana style."_

 _"How do you know my dad?" Gajeel asked._

 _"Let's just say I got along real great with the dragons."_

 _"I wonder why I haven't met you before."_

 _"Ha ha, I wonder why too…" Natsu laughed nervously with a sweatdrop._

 _~~~ One minute later~_

 _"Okay, first order of business!" Natsu clasped his hands together with a smile. "Show me your dragon force."_

 _"Dragon... force?" Gajeel tilted his head in confusion._

 _"You don't know what dragon force is? Wow, you're way behind your lessons. It seems like your training with me will take a while." Natsu said the last part with grief._

 _"Hey!" Gajeel retaliated with annoyance._

 _"That's fine, I guess. I'm also trying to get stronger, and I'm looking for someone too. Maybe with you, I'll finally get some company. I've been soooo lonely that I almost died of boredom."_

 _"So what?"_

 _"It means by the time we're done training, you'll be a whole different person! No more crying, complaining, and all the other features I find annoying of you…"_

 _"Those sound like two completely different sentences…"_

 _"Haha! Looks like you're actually a bit smart!"_

 _"Oi!"_

…

Gajeel finally gasped awake. He found himself shakily standing up, while deeply inhaling for breaths. He looked around the room. It was midnight, kid Natsu was still softly sleeping in bed. It looked like Gajeel was just dreaming the whole time.

But was it really just a dream, it felt a bit too real. Maybe it was a memory? Maybe Levy's method of helping amnesia actually worked? Gajeel shook his head as everything that was happening to him was all so confusing. He held his head and sat back down, eager to possibly unlock more memories. However, the door suddenly opened, and he could hear people shuffle inside.

"Who is it?" He felt like an idiot for asking that question. What if those people were intruders?

"It's just us, Fairy Tail." Makarov waved his hand at Gajeel. With him were Levy, Gray, Lucy, and an unfamiliar woman.

"Who are you?" Gajeel directed his eyes to the woman.

"I'm Ultear, a friend of Natsu's. I'm guessing that you're Gajeel?" The woman said.

"Yeah…" He was too tired to ask how Ultear knew his name. "So what are you guys going to do?"

"I'm here because I just wanted to check on Natsu," Makarov stated.

"I wanted to see how Natsu was doing," Ultear said.

"I left my clothes here, I think," Gray said as he started to look for his clothes.

"I… I honestly have no idea why I'm here…" Lucy sweatdropped.

Levy, the only one who hadn't said anything yet, was still silent.

Gajeel slumped in his chair as Makarov jumped on a stool next to Natsu's bed. He slightly squinted at the dragonslayer, while making a humming noise. After analyzing Natsu for a few minutes, Makarov concluded, "This is some interesting magic. Definitely a magic from the dark arts."

"That's all you have to say?" Ultear raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah-" Makarov paused as he spotted a strange mark on Natsu's shoulder. "What's this?" Makarov pushed Natsu on his right to reveal a mark on his left shoulder. This mark seemed awfully familiar to Makarov, so much that it surprised him.

"Is that a guild mark?" Lucy asked.

"It appears to be," Makarov said.

"Can you tell who this guild mark belongs to?" Gray grit his teeth.

"Let's not reach any conclusions before we get any answers."

"Why wait when it's already obvious that Natsu's been spying on us for another guild?"

"We don't know that," Makarov stated calmly.

Lucy tilted her head at Makarov's behavior. She seemed confused. "Master… You seem awfully calm about this. Did you know something about something about this?"

"No. I may have suspected this but I did not know of this."

Gray crossed his arms. "But you do know where the mark belongs to, right?"

Makarov closed his mouth and just looked at Natsu.

"Just tell us. I think we have a right to know if there's a criminal in our guild." Gray closed his sentence with a small growl.

"Grimoire Heart," Makarov admitted, he put his hand on his forehead.

"What's that?" Lucy asked.

"Isn't that…" Levy finally spoke. She closed her eyes for a bit to arrange her thoughts. "Is that the dark guild that's part of the Balam Alliance?"

"Balam Alliance?"

"It's the alliance created by three powerful dark guilds. Although I heard it was more like a non-aggression pact. I heard that Grimoire Heart, in particular, was responsible for mass killings in villages in the name of Zeref. Apparently they're hardcore Zeref worshippers or something." Everyone looked at Levy, wondering how she knew this stuff.

"She's right," Makarov confirmed after thinking for a while. "There was a guild master meeting to discuss how to deal with this before. Right now no one had taken any action because it seemed like all those dark guilds were inactive for now. Although it may seem not, now that we see Natsu is part of Grimoire Heart and he's here in Fairy Tail."

"We should interrogate him or something." Gray pounded his fists. Everyone else seemed against that option.

Ultear, who had been quiet for a while, finally started to talk. "I probably shouldn't say this but since Natsu is in so much suspicion, I will. Natsu had been chosen by the Magic Council to infiltrate Grimoire Heart." She lied, but no one else had detected any falsehood.

"Why did they pick Natsu?" Lucy asked.

"Seven years ago Natsu was an orphan who was taken in by the Magic Council because they sensed a lot of magic and potential from the boy. It was reported six years ago that the master of Grimoire Heart had made contact with Natsu. The magic council decided to let Natsu join the guild but as a spy for the magic council." Ultear lied again with ease. Although she knew if she kept lying, she might slip up and two lies would contradict each other.

"That's horrible! They made a kid go on an espionage for one of the most powerful dark guilds in Fiore?" Lucy gasped in disbelief.

Ultear nodded with no emotion.

"Wait, so even if Natsu was sent to Grimoire Heart by the Magic Council, that still means that Natsu had to partake in some of that guild's activities like those mass murders."

"Yes, he had. Even so, that Magic Council had plans to make him an assassin, for him to kill people was inevitable." Everyone seemed shocked by this, Ultear just nodded the lie off.

"That's even worse! I don't feel right about having a trained killer inside the guild. Why is he in Fairy Tail anyway if his job is to be in Grimoire Heart?"

Ultear ignored the second question as she felt her heart tightened. In fury, she yelled, "Didn't you kill my mom?!" She said in an emotionless tone, not caring whatever impact that had on Gray.

Gray's bangs covered his face. "I-" He quickly shut his mouth and walked out the house in silence.

"Gray…" Makarov trailed off quietly.

Before anyone could react, the doors opened again, and in came Porlyusica. The old lady walked in grumpily and shoved a note in Makarov's face.

"What's this?" The old man asked.

"It's a note for that boy sleeping there." Porlyusica pointed at Natsu. "Someone just pushed a note onto my hands and asked me to bring it to the boy without opening it."

"Is this it?" Makarov kept the letter tightly closed. He had not opened it… yet.

"It is, for that boy. Now, for this boy…" Porlyusica glared at Gajeel. "I finally found out something about his amnesia."

Gajeel's head perked up. "What did you find out? Wait, when and how did you find out?"

"Your amnesia was forced upon you, meaning someone magically put amnesia on you. It's called magically induced amnesia." She ignored the other two questions.

"Then that means you can reverse the magic spell on him, right?"

"Not necessarily… If the caster was weak then yes. But in this boy's case, the person who cast this spell on him is very strong and used a unique type of magic. It's a dark magic, one of the most complex magic I have ever seen. It'll be very hard to reverse this spell, it could take years. Especially since it seems the spell has been cast in the last two months." Porlyusica crossed her arms.

Suddenly Gajeel said, "Wait, but when I was sleeping, I dreamt of something that was very familiar to me. It felt like a memory. Although I don't think I can confirm it until the Salamander wakes up and answers my questions."

Porlyusica lifted her chin in confusion. "That's… odd. According to the research I recorded while you were resting before, the magic should be too powerful enough for you to not recover any memories for this year. Unless…" She tapped her chin in deep thinking. "Unless you were also very strong. What magic do you use?"

"The Salamander called it Dragon Slayer Magic."

"A lost magic… Can you use it well?"

"I don't know. I haven't really been using it much ever since I got amnesia."

"Looks like we'll have to find out. Hey, which one of you brats are very strong?" Porlyusica turned her attention to everyone in the room now. Lucy and Levy shied away. Makarov sighed, he could offer to fight, but that would hurt his health and he wasn't really in a fighting mood.

All eyes turned to Ultear again. "You want me, an injured person and magic sealed, to fight one of your members? No, I can't. I'm already dueling with Erza." She sighed.

"You and Erza are dueling? Okay, looks like this guild is doomed." Makarov muttered because he thought it was crazy that one of the members challenged a member of the council. They're asking for this guild to be disbanded… He noted that he'll scold everyone on that later.

A lightbulb popped over Levy's head. "How about we have a team battle? Erza and Gajeel versus Ultear and whoever she picks. Of course, we would have Porlyusica heal Ultear first or something."

"Sounds interesting," Lucy commented.

Ultear tilted her head in confusion. "Why are the members of Fairy Tail so determined to fight a council member so badly?"

"Let's just say Fairy Tail doesn't like the council as much as the council doesn't like Fairy Tail. Although you don't have to accept to this. You could always back off." Makarov teased and smiled.

The time mage rolled her eyes. "...Fine."

The fairy tail members smirked.

"Okay, now that all that's happened, I need to go back to the guild," Makarov said as he left. Porlyusica went to another room and Lucy rushed back to her house when she realized she hadn't paid this month's rent yet.

So now it was just Levy, Gajeel, Ultear, and an unconscious Natsu.

"So what did you remember, Gajeel?"

"Hmm…" Gajeel thought. "Well…" As he explained every detail of his dream, Levy realized something.

"Wait. According to Ultear, Natsu joined the council seven years ago. But according to this memory then you met Natsu seven years ago and may have followed him for a long time since then. It doesn't seem Natsu could have joined the council before then and it doesn't seem he joined it after, or else you would also be affiliated with the council. But it seems the council's reaction to you during the Phantom Lord incident was very… normal. They acted as if you were a stranger, which means either your memories are 'false' or Ultear's story is wrong."

They looked at Ultear who was still there. She seemed pretty tired but was attentive to the whole conversation.

"Yeah I said a lie." She admitted immediately. "I thought it was Natsu's choice to tell you the truth."

"But that does mean you know something, right?"

Ultear ignored them and made herself comfortable on the chair she was sitting on. "I have nothing else to say to you." She laid down and started sleeping.

Levy started walking to the exit. "Well Gajeel, since you now know that you can't really do anything about your memories, how about we check out the guild? If you like it, you could join."

"Uh… sure," Gajeel had no idea why Levy just changed her tune with him. First she was mad and now she's content? Girls are confusing.

They walked out of the door and the wind breezed over them.

But the soft wind blew ominously as the two could hear words perfectly.

 _("I'm Coming For You...")_

* * *

 **~With Makarov~~~**

The old man walked down the forest path, his whole body was very tense. It seems he's gotten the guild into a lot of trouble just by recruiting one kid. It might be worth it, it might not. He sighed to himself as he remembered he was supposed to meet up with Erza to check the dead 'Erza'. He was pretty sure that body was not fake, but then again he might be wrong.

Again, he sighed. He took the note that was addressed to Natsu from his pocket. Usually, he didn't bother with people's personal mail and stuff but considering this is for the most suspicious and mysterious member, it'd probably be best to know what was in this note.

He uncrumpled it and slowly to read its contents, trying to discover any hidden messages or possible code words.

 _To Natsu,_

 _Heard what happened. Yes, information does travel fast. Also heard Hades is on a rampage because of you, you might want to go into hiding for a while. Because of that, Grimoire Heart is going to make a move. That means you might have to abandon Fairy Tail especially seeing how much you love them, although you might not. Well anyway, you can come visit anytime you want. Ho ho ho.  
_

 _From, Someone you think you know_

From what Makarov can decipher, something happened very recently. Something that could've possibly turned Natsu into a kid. Hades could be the name of a person or something. Hiding… why would Natsu need to go into hiding? It seems Grimoire Heart is about to turn active. Natsu might leave Fairy Tail for the reason that he's being chased. Although abandoned can also refer to as a mission. Natsu might have to abort his mission here in Fairy Tail? What mission, and what does it mean Natsu loves it here, although it could just be sarcasm. The last part, it probably meant come visit and stay because it's safe there.

Many questions popped up in Makarov's head, especially who sent this letter. According to Ultear, it could be the Council, but Makarov didn't think so. This letter is too informal for it to be from the council. Thus making Makarov believe Ultear's story even less.

He breathed yet another sigh and crumpled up the paper and lit it to flames. He thought there was no need to show Natsu that note.

"I've got myself one troublesome brat this time." He muttered as he walked along the forest path peacefully.

* * *

 **~With Erza, Cana, and Jellal~~~**

"So this is the guy who kidnapped you huh? He seems a bit too soft… and cute. Tell me again Erza, how did you manage to get yourself kidnapped by the likes of him?" Cana asked while analyzing Jellal.

"I told you he was possessed! And you shouldn't call him soft and cute, even in his state now I could say he's still pretty powerful." Erza sighed as she glanced at the blue haired former villain. He hung his head down in shame and his body was trembling, he seemed pretty… upset about what he did in the Tower of Heaven. Maybe he was having a trauma…

"Right right… or maybe you were too stunned by his handsomeness that you fainted." The guild drunk acted like a damsel in distress in a mocking way.

"Cana!" Erza snapped.

"Ha ha." She snickered.

Just as the conversation ending, they arrived at a tall cliff, where Erza's supposed grave was supposed to be. There was a coffin in front of the gravestone. Erza approached the coffin and slowly pushed the lid. The reek of death immediately snuck out and dispersed into the air. Not even halfway done, Jellal's head shot up and he yelled, "Stop!"

"What is it?" Cana asked, curious of why the boy who's been acting pretty traumatized recently has suddenly made a remark to open a grave.

"There's a lot of dark and death magic swirling around in that coffin."

"Really?" Cana seemed surprised but even she could start to sense the eerie magic coming from the coffin.

"I don't think it's safe to open it…" Erza covered her mouth with her arm and tried to reclose the coffin with her other arm. It couldn't budge… "Huh?" She quietly tried to close the lid without the others noticing her struggle.

"Since you seem like you can answer questions now… exactly how did you make an exact replica of Erza?" Cana asked Jellal.

When his mind was shifted off the dark magic to this question, he started shivering again and cowered.

"Erza! Your boyfriend's useless!" The drunk laughed.

"He's not my boyfriend!" Erza gritted her teeth as the lid just could not move an inch back. It seemed that it could only open but not close. She then put to much force pulling that her hand slipped and her body fell backwards. She quickly recovered and stood up, facing her companions. "It appears we have to face whatever magic is in there." She said while brushing off the dust off her armour.

"Okay."

Jellal looked away and muttered, "Maybe I should stand back."

"No, you're not." Erza smacked the boy's head. "You're going to be productive and help us. Hopefully that will help you get over this emotional distress you're going through right now, Hopefully… (I can't have you acting like a scaredy cat every day or goodness sake…)" She whispered the last part so no one could hear.

Jellal still looked away.

"If you're going to keep acting shy then I'm going to challenge you to a drinking contest and I know you don't want that!" Cana growled which slowly got the agreement from Jellal.

Erza went to unlock the magic restraints on Jellal. She was a bit hesitant, especially when Ultear said his magic was a bit unstable and the same for her. Maybe the cause for it was the Tower of Heaven but that would mean herself and Natsu were affected but it didn't prove to be true for herself. She'll have to ponder about that later.

"Okay… here goes-!" Cana shoved the lid off and the sky was immediately tainted in purple. Jet black feathered crows swarmed out from the coffin into the high sky. They flew in a strange formation as it seemed they were forming the shape of a tornado.

"I don't remember putting that in the coffin…" Cana said, to lighten the mood a bit. It didn't really help.

Then, the actual body in the coffin rose up with a fleet of crows carrying her. She wore a midnight gown and her eyes and hair were glowing scarlet red. It looked like the beginning of a new disaster.

"I don't remember putting fake Erza in that gown either," Cana remarked nervously.

"Shut up and get ready." Erza snapped as she requipped into her heavenly wheel armour. She glanced at Jellal for a second. "After this, you're going to tell me everything about what you did."

Storm clouds hovered low and covered the sky of their area, to hide what was happening from the outsiders of the area.

"If you don't…" Erza gritted her teeth again, fearsome dark magic crawled on her skin. The fake Erza's mouth was beginning to open. And at the same time their voices synced at the same time, both saying:

 **"I'll kill you."**

* * *

 **I was originally just going to have Jellal explain everything... but I just wanted to make it more complicated XD**

 **Review!**

 **Thanks for reading hope you all enjoyed!**

 **Oh and if you noticed my inconsistent updating it's because when I start writing, a bunch of ideas flow through me and before I know it, I wrote three average length chapters in a day. But when I take breaks... I take really long breaks so yeah, that's my explanation.**

 **Of course... when I play a million RPG games I get influenced in my writing. This influence is easy to spot as it seems Erza, Jellal, and Cana will fight a boss (monster). Oh I might regret this later when I'm not as influenced and I'll have no idea what I'm writing... At least I'm having fun.**

 **I also changed the summary because I felt the original summary seemed no longer valid. I'm allowed to change things :P**


	18. The Humanity of a Fairy and Demon

**Chapter 18**

 **The Humanity of a Fairy and Demon**

Erza covered her mouth in shock that she and this 'fake Erza' said the same words at the same time. Now looking back on it, they probably weren't the best words to say.

"Oh god Erza don't say that at a time like this or I'll start thinking you're the one possessed. But maybe whatever this is we're fighting is actually weaker than it looks. **Shuriken Card**!" She sweatdropped nervously as she quickly threw several pointed cards at the fake Erza but it didn't prove to do much. "Although it _is_ Erza so it probably won't be an easy opponent…"

"I doubt it." Erza said as she carefully charged into her opponent. Fake Erza easily dodged the attack and seemed to requip into the same armour Erza was in. The real Erza hesitated. They look the same, they use the same magic, they sound the same. They really are identicals. "Guys, some help here!" It also didn't go unnoticed that the fake Erza was groaning and moaning, she muttered words in some other language.

Jellal snapped out of his thoughts and started to chant, " **Meteor**!" His body started to glow, but it faded immediately. Then suddenly the mass of crows crowding the sky pooled and crushed down on him.

'This is what Ultear meant when Jellal's magic was unstable?' Erza grit her teeth as she successfully charged at fake Erza this time. They clashed swords and their strength was even.

A light bulb popped up from Cana as she got an idea. "Erza hold her off a bit longer!" She said as she tried searching for something in her bag.

The real Erza nodded, secretly hoping Cana wasn't going to just randomly pull out a strawberry shortcake just because this was 'Erza'. Finally after half a minute, Cana smiled as she pulled out a card. This card seemed different from the rest as it was patterned differently and it looked like it was shining. She signaled Erza to jump away as she yelled, " **The Prayer's Fountain: Hallowed**!" She thrust a single card to the ground and many beams of golden water and light beamed out from it. Upon getting hit, the crows started to fade into light particles and the fake Erza, who was hit with a light beam at the chest started writhing in agony.

She screeched, " _ **NOOOOO! NO! I.. I HAVE TO MEET ZEREF AGAIN! E-N-**_ ", she suddenly collapsed. The light soon devoured part of her body, and soon the light covered the whole sky, and faded.

"Anticlimax, just how I like it," Cana huffed, exhausted from high magic consuming magic she used. She completely ignored what fake Erza said.

"What was that magic you just used Cana?," Erza said while peering down at what was left of fake Erza, making sure that she was actually dead.

"Gildarts taught it to me. He said: ' _there's been an increase in dark magic users. Use this card to fend against them. If you do that, I'll finally get some free time with the ladie- ahem, just think of it as a toy you use to beat the bad guys, okay_?'"

"When did he give this to you?" Erza sweatdropped, already dreading the possible answer.

"When I was six." Cana laughed a bit.

"Okay… Now that we're alive and we've defeated this thing, Jellal, I demand some answers, NOW." Erza glared at Jellal until she realized that Jellal had already fainted from all the attacks the crows did to him…

"He looks pretty beat… Are you sure this is the guy that kidnapped you?" Cana remarked again.

"I swear, one day he's an all powerful villain, the next he's a soft, useless stranger." Erza sighed. "Then I guess I'll get those answers later. For now we should head back and rest, My duel with Ultear is tomorrow anyway," She yawned while deep in her mind she was wondering what exactly was that _thing_ they just fought. It would shock anyone that they had an identical, an identical that Erza herself cut down. It felt like she just killed herself. She shook her head, no just think of it as a mirage- an illusion. ' _It's not really you',_ Erza thought to herself. ' _But what was that meet Zeref thing? Why has everyone been so obsessed with Zeref lately?'_

"Oh," Cana jumped up and waved to the person that was approaching them. "Hey Master!"

"Hello Cana, Erza." Makarov smiled.

"Master!" Erza smiled. "How was Natsu?"

"He's all good." Makarov successfully lied. "But what happened here? You're all covered in bruises!"

Cana and Erza sweatdropped, they responded in silence. Makarov sighed when he figured they were just safe.

"Well I have news for you Erza, regarding your duel."

A question mark rose above Erza's head.

"And I have more important news regarding you as a new Wizard Saint."

"What is it?"

"I want you to resign your title as Wizard Saint, now."

* * *

 **~Porlyusica's House~~~**

"A team duel, huh…" Ultear spoke to herself while softly tapping her fingers. "Then I need a partner… I should be good enough by myself but I suppose a partner would be fine…"

She hummed in deep thought, lying her head peacefully on a pillow. "I shouldn't underestimate my foes so I should get a strong partner. It shouldn't matter if I go overkill. A good partner would be Natsu… but he's in no condition to fight. Then Jellal- no, he wouldn't be able to lift a finger if Erza was his opponent." She sighed heavily, "And I looked at Fairy Tail's members but they all seemed average or weak.

"A good partner… doesn't have to from Fairy Tail. But… I can't get anyone suspicious. Why is such a trivial decision such a hard decision to make?" She covered her head in grief.

"Wait, I just need someone to keep Gajeel at bay so the best decision should be ..." She muttered and quietly laughed at herself. What an odd choice… Fairy Tail must be rubbing off of her…

"Ultear…"

Said person perked up at the voice. She looked at Natsu who still in the form of a kid. "You're awake!" She couldn't hide her surprise, she didn't even know why she herself was surprised.

"I heard… you talking to yourself…" Natsu whispered slowly. "I think… you turned into an idiot…"

"Idiot? That's the last thing I want to hear from you. Although I suppose I turned a bit idiotic." Ultear said, with a thoughtful expression. "Enough of that nonsense, I want to hear what happened to you."

"Me?" Natsu closed his eyes and breathed deeply. "Oh yeah. Purehito excommunicated me, I think."

"You think?"

"I didn't really understand what was going on. First he started getting mad at me for some stuff that I did- which is normal. But he started accusing me of stuff I didn't do. Then he started attacking me out of nowhere in blind rage. Yeah… I really had no idea what was going on."

"Seriously? That makes no sense."

"I know, right?" Natsu muttered, a few seconds of silence followed his words. He then spoke up, louder than he was, "Hey Ultear, could you give me a pen and paper?"

"Sure." Ultear quickly handed over the materials Natsu had asked for. "What are you going to do with it?"

Natsu didn't reply, instead he quickly scratched the paper with pen. There was no ink, so he decided to inscribe unusual characters onto the paper with the ballpoint of the pen.

"What's this?"

"A memory. Uh, I mean some writing I remember seeing." After he finished writing, he asked "Do you remember what happened at the Tower of Heaven?"

"Not really since I was unconscious for a while. But I remember Simon was possessed by something and then he hit me."

"Do you know what he was possessed by?"

"No."

"Can you read this?" Natsu held the paper up to Ultear.

She studied the writing a bit but she could not tell the message. She shook her head.

"These were some of the characters that were on Simon. They started appearing after I defeated him. I'm sure these characters have something to do with what possessed Simon."

"Where is this conversation leading up to?" Ultear softened her voice.

"Well you see, Purehito had the same cursed scent as when Simon was possessed. Which would mean Purehito is currently possessed. So um I think it would be dangerous for you to go back."

"Aw you're worried about me? Naturally I'd be disgusted but with that adorable little kid face you have on right now all I can think is that you're cute, Natsu." Ultear smiled, unable to evade the cuteness of kid Natsu.

"I'm just giving you a warning, as a friend." Natsu hissed.

"So you finally admit we're friends? Aw." Ultear laughed.

"Stop that! What's gotten into you?"

"I'm just teasing you. You seemed really tensed up so I thought lighten up the mood." She teasingly stuck out her tongue.

Natsu paused to think about that. "Ultear, you're a real nice person aren't you?" he said.

Ultear wore an obvious dumb look. "You 'do' know who I work for, right?"

"Yep."

"Why did you call me nice?"

"I felt like saying it. And I think you are nice."

"What!?" Ultear's mouth suddenly shaped a smile and instantly tried to repress it once she noticed she was smiling. It looked like she was making a twisted smile, not uncommon in dark mages though. ' _What's this?_ ' she thought nervously.

"What's wrong with your face?"

"Nothing!" She quickly threw a pillow at Natsu's face to cover his eyes. "I'll take my leave now."

"Wait! Can you help me reverse my age first?!" Natsu yelled.

"Nope, do it yourself. That reminds me, you should start learning to read! Now bye!"

She flung open the door with very stiff movements.

' _This light guild's corrupted Natsu!_ ' she thought in her head, still suppressing a smile. ' _And what the hell is with this smile?'_

Natsu was left in confusion as growls of frustration was heard from Ultear. The door slammed shut and he was left alone again. He sighed to release his exhausted breath, he didn't get the chance to tell Ultear that he could read those characters…

He clenched the pillow that Ultear threw at him tightly. It was cold… He wasn't supposed to _feel_ cold…

The door suddenly flew open and shut at an instant, now two people in high shock in the room. They spoke no words, they just breathed heavily and quickly. The two people were Levy and Gajeel.

Deciding to break the silence, Natsu greeted them.

"Oh Natsu, you're awake?" Levy gasped.

"Yeah."

The silence proceeded to take over the room. Natsu sighed as this was getting awkward. Then Gajeel suddenly started walking to Natsu. He stopped to say, "I'm insane."

"If you say so…"

"That's not the answer I was looking for!" Gajeel yelled as he punched Natsu down on the head.

"Ow!" Natsu yelled in agony as he noticed the punch hurt a billion more times than it should have. "What's wrong with you guys?"

"Well I've been hearing voices lately, I always thought that that voice was just me thinking. But just now, a deep, dark voice spoke an ominous message to both me and Levy. I thought that there was something just wrong with me but now I think there's someone out to get me- er, us."

"Oh… so you both are just being superstitious…"

"Take it seriously! We're all in danger now, you have to help us. The voices could get to you too!"

"Um…" Natsu thought deeply. Well, ever since he entered Fairy Tail, he had been getting all sorts of dizzy spells and hallucinations, hallucinations that seemed to be memories but weren't. He thought this was just a problem for him but maybe this sort of stuff was a side-effect of joining Fairy Tail. He quickly dismissed that idea. He looked at Levy, who seemed to have a fear of supernatural things. Then he looked at Gajeel, who looked like he was starting to get a fear of the supernatural because he can't discern between the real and the unreal- probably due to his amnesia.

He sighed, "What then? What did this voice say to you?"

" _I'm coming for you._ "

"That's all he said?" Natsu had a look of boredom on his face.

"Um, we didn't say that." Levy announced.

The fire dragonslayer suddenly had chills crawling up his spine. He clenched his left arm with his right hand, he was feeling colder… "So," he said while hiding the fact that he was mysteriously freezing, "that was the voice?"

Levy nodded.

Now that he thought about it, that voice did sound oddly familiar, flashes of an old man zipped through his mind. He tried to think hard to remember who the voice belonged to, but it was an impossible task for he knew too many old men.

The door suddenly opened slowly, making a heavy creaking noise. Levy hid near Gajeel, while Gajeel just stood unmoving, all this suspense was building up for all of them.

The person who opened the door was… Gray.

They all sighed in relief.

"Ice dinger? What are you doing here?" Natsu asked.

"Wha- you're awake? If I knew that I wouldn't have come back so quickly." Gray sighed.

"Just close the door!" Gajeel roared.

"Okay!" Gray quickly done as told, he quickly asked "What the hell is going on?" He seemed to have obviously noticed how everyone was hiding in the back of the room.

"We're all being superstitious, wanna join us?" Natsu deadpanned.

"The hell?"

"Just come here and hide!" Levy hissed in worry.

Gray locked the door and proceeded to hide with them. Everyone seemed to stare at the door.

While the couple were still on the edge of being scared to death, Natsu asked Gray, "I didn't expect you to be one of my visitors."

"Neither did I, it's just… My curiosity just seemed to bring me back here. I thought I couldn't assume you're just a bad person because you did something bad in the past… even though it's a very recent past. Well it really makes no sense but for some reason I just couldn't doubt the good you did here in Fairy Tail. I've just been so stressed recently that I've been making a lot of rash actions, like a certain flame head I know. Although, this situation with you would be so much easier to handle if you just gave us answers!"

"Wow, you're actually a reasonable and decent person."

"Shut up, it's not like you're a demon."

Natsu quietly laughed nervously. "Wait, how did you know I did some bad stuff in my past?"

"Ultear gave us a story, and it's kind of obvious you're in a dark guild now since the guild's mark is showing visibly on you."

He cursed to himself. He tried to burn off the mark immediately, but it didn't. He quickly guessed that ever since he was turned into a kid, his magic abilities stopped working. He cursed again as he started to scratch the place where the mark was until he started bleeding. He stopped himself, feeling that it should be okay to leave it like that for now.

Gray noticed that, giving him more reasons to question where Natsu was on the bad to good scale. "Well, while we're all huddling up in the corner like cowards, where's Porlyusica?"

"Good question. I think she might have left a while ago." That being said, Natsu knew he couldn't handle it anymore. Gajeel and Levy were both scared for whatever reason, he expected more from Gajeel, disappointment. And it seemed that Gray was too confused to even know what he should be doing.

He stood up on his bed. The voice sounded like it came from outside, that's all he knew. He didn't think the voice was something from superstition, so it had to come from an old man that was real. If it was just an old man messing with their minds, then they should be able to kick his ass and laugh about this event later.

Natsu approached the door, feeling every sense of chill air flowing around his body. But still, he had to rely on other people to kick the ass of whoever was behind this. He didn't notice he was shaking until Gray pointed it out.

"I'm just feeling cold," he answered.

"Cold?"

He could sense someone behind that door, whoever it may be, he hoped that this guy wouldn't be weird.

The door opened before Natsu touched the knob. The door opened widely, revealing the man behind the door. A wave of immense magical pressure flooded the room, stunning everyone. The man seemed to be younger than the voice they heard, but when the man spoke, they confirmed that this was the man who owned that voice.

"My, it's been a while…" The man said with the old voice.

Natsu almost stepped back in nervousness, but he caught himself in the act and decided to stand his ground. He started feeling really faint. _This man… this man is… Aw man it's so difficult remembering all the names of the old men you meet but this man is dangerous right now!_

The man voiced a wicked laugh that echoed throughout the entire room. Chills crawled up on everyone's skin.

Of course Gray and Gajeel, the two people who have been acting a lot on impulse lately, just had to act on impulse again. They both leaped at the man, aiming to knock out the man immediately.

" **Ice make: Hammer!** "

" **Iron Dragon's Fist!** "

The man stood nonchalantly as the two mages rushed to attack him. "What a warm welcome," the man said. At those words, Gray and Gajeel's magic attacks were dispelled at an instance, leaving both mages confused. The man looked at Gajeel, then to Natsu.

"Natsu, Gajeel. Long time no see."

* * *

 **~Magnolian Shopping District~~~**

"I really should leave immediately," Ultear sighed as there were faint blush marks on her face. She sighed again, she didn't really mean that. Ever since staying around Fairy Tail, everything's been mysterious, unpredictable, and… fun. Weird… this is nothing like dark guilds, but it definitely feels better here than there. For a while now she felt curious about trying a legalized mission. Is she crazy for thinking about that?

She was sitting right next to a fancy coffee shop, drinking… coffee. A girl suddenly sat across her. She had blonde hair, Ultear recognized her immediately.

"Your name is Lucy, right?"

"Yep." Lucy said as she placed a cup of tea on the table.

"Why are you sitting here?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Interrogation?"

"No!" Lucy held her hands up to mean she meant no harm. "I just wanted to talk! You know, the most used way to communicate and connect with others."

"Connect?" Ultear muttered in confusion quietly. She knew what it meant but she just wasn't familiar with the term.

"I was also concerned about Gray. You said that he killed your mother, but I just couldn't believe it when I first heard it. I was just hoping you could give a clear explanation." Lucy said quietly and carefully, thinking this was a sensitive topic.

"Oh that?" Ultear sighed and acted like she didn't really care about the topic. "Gray was indirectly involved in the killing of my mother but it's not like he murdered her, however he always blames himself for Ur's death. So, since I was mad, I decided to verbally jab at him to make him feel bad. I admit that I acted horribly, but thinking about it, it seemed like I played the bad guy in that situation." Ultear sighed, feeling just a tiny bit regretful.

"No, you didn't play bad guy." Lucy said, taking a sip of tea. "Everyone acts like a kid every once in awhile. Sure you accused Gray of something nasty, but it's not like you really meant it. The fact that you regret it means that you care about Gray's feelings."

Ultear frowned. "What's with you good people always seeing the good in other people?"

"Huh?" Lucy almost spit out her tea.

"Do you think I'm a good person?" Ultear blurted out the question that was bugging her for a while. She knew she couldn't be a good person but ever since she helped Natsu out in the Tower of Heaven, some thoughts and feelings seemed to think otherwise. But no! People don't change that quickly, right? Ultear nervously thought.

"Yes, I think you're a good person." Lucy smiled. "I mean, you did help rescue Erza back at the Tower of Heaven, right? You saved someone, in my book, I think that's a good act. Plus, back at Porlyusica's house, you lied for Natsu's sake, right? I think risking oneself for another self is also a good action, to some extent."

This time, Ultear spit out her coffee in surprised that she was saying almost the same things as Natsu said, the liquids directly splashed onto Lucy's face. Never having been in a situation like this before, Ultear stood up, bowed her head, and said, "I am sincerely sorry for your loss." However she took no action to find some towels and dry Lucy's face with it.

Lucy stood up and panic, not because of the coffee, but because Ultear was bowing down before her acting like she was at a funeral or something. It seemed really embarrassing and people were starting to look. "Ah no it's nothing- so please raise your head!" She had no reaction to the hot coffee that was currently melting her face.

Ultear raised her head and sat down. Quickly changing the subject, Ultear asked, "Why did you think I was lying about that whole story about Natsu?"

Lucy calmed down and sat down. "My dad was a businessman. Assuming that I'd have to take over the business, I was trained to lie and how to detect lies. You seem to be a professional at lying but there are some hints in your face that told me you were lying." She wiped her face with a napkin, a waiter also provided her with a towel.

"Oh." Ultear's voice was calm but on the inside, she was panicky, thinking, ' _This girl is dangerously observant!'_

"I'm sure you have good reasons for such a lie, but I won't pry further on that matter. Overall, I think you are a good person. If you don't believe that, then you can believe this: you are a human."

"A human? Well of course, what else could I be?"

"All humans do bad things, so everyone can be considered a 'bad guy'. Then there are the people who do good things, which makes them a 'good guy' despite the fact that they had done in the past. All humans are like that, no exception." Lucy seemed like she was about to say something else but nothing came out of her mouth.

"You're surprisingly wise. So wise that I think you know more than you're letting on…"

"It's not that, it's just I've just read an AMAZING book that made me think so much about humanity. Thanks to that book, I think I can forgive even the most heinous criminals!.. I think. It's such a good book, you should read it too!" Lucy took out a book and showed it to Ultear, then she started saying everything she liked about the book and why it's such a good read. "Too bad the author went missing. The book was published before it was finished. It's still good…"

Ultear brushed off the cover of the book to remove some dust. Inside, she smiled. _You're not the only person who can see through other people's lies…_

She was snapped out of her thoughts when she finally felt someone's stare, Lucy noticed this too. They both looked at the same place, they saw a familiar person.

"Juvia?" Lucy exclaimed in surprise.

The blue haired woman just stood by a bush. "I was looking for Gray-sama and that's when I heard you guys talking about Gray-sama."

"You were here for that long?!" The two girls were shocked and sweatdropped.

"Yes, Juvia will stalk anyone who has some information on Gray-sama."

"I see…" Lucy sweatdropped.

"So does anyone know where Gray-sama is?"

"No, sorry. But I think right now you should give Gray some time alone. I don't think he want's anyone's company right now," Lucy said, completely unaware of what was happening at Porlyusica's house.

"Understood, _love rival._ " Juvia hissed the last part out.

Ultear stood up. "If this conversation is over, I will take my leave now."

"Ah, no! Uh… where do you live? Could I walk you there?" Lucy smiled nervously as Juvia was glaring at her for some 'unknown' reason.

"I currently reside in an apartment near here. I hear the landlady's very scary." Ultear said, while pondering where exactly she lived. Sure she was going to stay in Magnolia for a while but… If she were to heed Natsu's warning, then she couldn't return to Grimoire Heart.

"Scary landlady?" Lucy repeated. "I think I live in that apartment too, I could show you the way." It seemed like she was trying to do everything in her power to become friends with Ultear.

"Um…" Ultear was about to deny her immediately because it was a habit to not take one's help. But she stopped herself, if she was changing like she thought she was then it wouldn't hurt to reach out her hand for help. "Sure."

Lucy smiled, "Juvia you can come too!" She grabbed Juvia's hand and started skipping towards their designated location. Ultear was following behind, slowly.

Unfortunately for Lucy, she accidently bumped into someone, she lost balance and fell along with Juvia. "Ow, ow… I'm so sorry." Lucy apologized to the person she bumped into.

"Watch where you go lady! Are you freakin' blind!" yelled the man.

Lucy was unhappy with the response but she brushed it off. She suddenly realized the dark aura emanating from the man. She fingered her keys just in case but her whole body told her not to move. Juvia felt the same as she'd been entirely quiet and stillness since they made contact with the man.

They waited for the man to just move along but he wasn't moving either. It seemed he had reached his goal. They noticed the man was glaring at Ultear.

"What are you doing here." Ultear growled.

"It's been a while Ultear, shouldn't you be giving me a better welcome than that? Besides, I've been given the task to escort you back." The man maliciously laughed. He had long, spiky hair. He wore a yellow and dark blue skirt-like armor with a red waist ribbon that exposes the right side of his upper-body, where a guild mark tattoo was located. Lucy noticed how the guild mark looked surprisingly identical to that of Natsu's.

"I can escort myself, not like I feel like going back right now."

"But don't you see? The guild master is insanely mad right now, he'll explode if you don't come back."

"All the more reason for me to not go back. I'm well aware that the guild master is currently 'mentally ill' but I have no concern for that. Besides, don't you love explosions?"

"I can explode your face right here and now."

"Zancrow, your face is unsightly, as always."

"Is that a challenge?"

"If it was. It already ended." Ultear muttered in a dark tone. Zancrow didn't understand what she meant until his whole body was suddenly frozen solid in an instant. The people nearby instantly grew into a panic and ran, the only people left were Lucy, Juvia, Ultear, and a frozen Zancrow.

"What was that all about?" Juvia asked.

"He's going to break out any moment now so I suggest you either run or prepare yourselves. Although since he has such an unstable nature, I would like to request your help to take him down as fast as you can since... right now my magic is unstable."

The two didn't hesitate when they said, "We'll help you."

The ice figure of Zancrow started shaking like it was breaking free from the inside.

"It's about to begin."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading and please review :P**

 **A long update... as usual. It seems everything right now is going to transition into chaos, oh great, I'm giving myself more hard work than I thought I'd be doing. Too many problems, too many mysteries, the whole reason why I like writing this. I'm thinking about writing another fanfiction but I'm lazy XD.  
**

 **Oh I'm trying my best on Character Development, I didn't expect it to be this hard but it is... I'm trying to find ways for Jellal and Gajeel to change back into their true (canon) selves (with minor changes). But right now you have to deal with the fact that they're both weak right now. Yep character development is difficult...**

 **Well... I hope you enjoyed.**


	19. The Small Lights in the Dark

**Chapter 19**

 **The Small Lights in the Dark**

"Master, what do you mean?" Erza asked.

"I said I would advise you to quit being among the ranks of Wizard Saint," Makarov said.

"What? Master, since when did you care about what we do with our lives? Shouldn't you be proud that Erza is a Wizard Saint?" Cana blurted out.

"Yes, I am most proud of Erza that she made it into the ranks of Wizard Saint. It's just… I never thought any one of my children would become Wizard Saint this early or want to be a Wizard Saint."

Cana growled but she was stopped by Erza. "It's fine, I didn't want to become Wizard Saint in the first place. I had joined it for other reasons. But Master, explain yourself please."

"You see, the Wizard Saints and the Council, at this time of year they-" Makarov was cut off by a sudden loud noise that echoed across the sky.

 _BOOOOM!_

"What was that?" Cana said, her question quickly answered when she saw the town of Magnolia.

Everyone's eyes widened in horror as they saw everything was on fire and a big explosion taking place near the shopping district in the town. It wasn't just fire either, the fire was mysteriously black. But the most of their concern was the citizens, they had to evacuate them immediately.

"Cana, you take care of the citizens, Erza and I will find out who's the cause of the fire," Makarov ordered immediately.

"Understood!" At that, they both rushed to the town. Erza, however, was burdened with figuring out what to do with Jellal before she investigated the town. Once she heard another explosion, she did not hesitate when she threw Jellal directly to the direction of Fairy Tail's guild hall. At that, she rushed to the town at the speed of light.

* * *

 **~Magnolia's Shopping District~~~**

Buildings were half destroyed, dark flames raged everywhere, reaching every dark corner in Magnolia. In the center of it was a psychotic pyromaniac.

"Zancrow you bastard." Ultear grit her teeth. She just barely managed to defend herself perfectly, no thanks to the fact her magic is acting up horribly.

"What's wrong Ultear? This is just like when we destroyed those other towns in the past. What's different this time?" he laughed.

Some smoke cleared to show that Juvia just managed to negate some of the damage with her own magic. She was also able to protect Lucy too. Juvia disliked the fact that one attack had been so powerful compared to her own magic. She could feel it, she had to use almost half of her magic just to somewhat successfully block the attack.

Zancrow glared at the two girls. "So these are members of Fairy Tail? They're so weak! They can just barely defend against me! Smallfry. Smallfry. Where's the challenge? Ultear, you've also turned weak, maybe I should just kill you and take your position right now."

"Idiot." Ultear started concentrating for her next move.

"Your words mean nothing to me. **Flame God's Explosive Flame**!" A massive stream of black flames burst from Zancrow's arms and reached for Ultear rapidly.

" **Ice-Make: Dahlias**!" Ultear shouted, hoping that her magic would listen, again. It partially did, as giant dahlia flowers bloomed out of ice and shielded Ultear from the fiery attack. However, just as the black flames reached the ice shield, the flames immediately consumed the ice and exploded, leaving Ultear defenseless from the flames.

"You can't even defend against a puny attack like that? Weak." Zancrow spat.

"Ultear's face was shadowed. "You couldn't even kill me after that attack? I'd say you're the weak one."

Lucy and Juvia stared in disbelief of these two monsters.

"If you're not going to give me a challenge then I'll just burn everything here to ashes. That reminds me, maybe I should attack that Salamander next, it's the perfect time for revenge."

"Still sulking after he got to be one of the seven kins of purgatory instead of you. How pathetic, you're still such a baby." Ultear laughed, despite how her body was screaming how painful it was to be scorched by flames.

"SHUT UP! I might as well eliminate you now, traitor! **Flame God's Bellow**!" Zancrow began to breathe fire at Ultear. She braced herself for the attack as she knew her magic was currently useless. But suddenly a wave of water blasted towards Zancrow, catching him off guard. His mouth was then directed to the sky where his magical attack was then directed at.

" **Open! Gate of the Water Bearer, Aquarius**!" Lucy shouted as she plunged Aquarius' key into the water Juvia created. A flash of light occurred and Aquarius appeared. However, as Lucy directed her to attack Zancrow, Aquarius didn't listen- as always and created a wave of water directed towards Lucy.

"Not again!" Lucy shouted as the water engulfed the whole town which was a battlefield. Fortunately, the water was strong enough to extinguish the flames. Unfortunately, some more buildings were destroyed and Aquarius left without a care. After that mess, everyone's attention was directed towards Zancrow once again.

"I'LL DESTROY EVERYTHING AT ONCE!" Zancrow roared as it seemed like none of their attacks had really harmed him.

" **FLAME GOD'S** -"

" **Maguilty Sodom**." A new voice had entered the battlefield. Just as the spell was cast, a large number of teal colored blades rained down on Zancrow, causing him to completely cancel his spell in order to dodge the blades.

"Meredy?" Ultear stared in disbelief that Meredy had now joined the battle.

"What the hell? Meredy? What the hell do you think you're doing?" Zancrow shouted in anger.

"Destroying an entire town wasn't in our orders this time, Zancrow."

"So what? I'm just taking care of business! It's not your problem."

"It is my problem when you start attacking Ultear," Meredy said in a stoic tone.

"She betrayed us, I had no choice."

"You did have a choice. Right now, Master Hades is even more enraged because of your actions. I suggest you retreat before he sends someone to kill you."

Zancrow's eye twitched. Without warning, he grabbed Meredy's arm. "Well I'm not the only one who's going to be punished." Just as he said that, the two vanished. Not without Ultear catching a glimpse of Meredy's sad eyes.

Juvia collapsed in exhaustion. Lucy sighed about that whole event and the fact that she was drenched, thanks to Aquarius.

Ultear cursed as she questioned her actions. Maybe she shouldn't have made such a big deal about not returning to Hades? She sighed again, then two new presences drew near. Since so many events had just occurred today, Ultear couldn't help feel a bit frightened about more people coming. She turned around to find Erza and Makarov now at the scene.

"Ultear." She heard Lucy speak. "Your back."

As the blonde had pointed out, Ultear's clothing was torn and burnt, revealing a certain tattoo mark on her back. The Grimoire Heart Mark.

"You're also part of that dark guild?"

Ultear sighed once again. Today really wasn't going her way. She looked at Lucy who was wearing an astonished face. Well, nothing good came from lying.

"Just arrest me already," Ultear sighed.

She was done with all of this.

She was giving up.

Until a light shined upon her.

"Hey Ultear," Erza stood tall in front of her. "I don't plan to go by Master's shenanigans so why don't we have our duel here?"

Ultear was silent.

"If you win, you'll be free."

"..."

"And if you lose…"

* * *

 **~Porlyusica's House~~~**

"Who are you?" Gajeel yelled as he and Gray tried to resummon their magic but to no success. "And how do you know me?"

"I'm kind of upset that you don't remember but I guess that can't be helped since you have amnesia." The man sighed, his voice starting to sound more like his age.

Gajeel then decided to physically attack the man. It didn't prove to be useful as the man grabbed him and threw him at a wall.

Gray decided to play smart and not attack the man rashly.

"Ah… but Natsu, you remember who I am, right?"

Natsu scratched his chin. "Uh… I just know you give me the creeps."

"Seriously? So no one remembered me after all this time…"

"Sorry…" Natsu apologized.

"It's okay, it's okay. It's probably best that none of you remember me," the man smiled.

"So you came all the way to here to wonder if we remembered you?" Gajeel asked, feeling ridiculous.

"Just who are you?" Gray narrowed his eyes at the man.

Natsu looked up at the man. He had a real bad gut feeling about this man, but he was powerless with no magic or strength in this body right now.

"To answer your question, Gray, I am the voice that everyone here had heard before you arrived."

Gray blinked, how did this man know his name?

"If we look at my history of what makes me who I am, then you can say I'm a dark mage."

Everyone shifted their eyes, this guy must be dangerous.

"If we look into my personal relationships, then to Gajeel I am a part of the one who took away his memories," the man said calmly, knowing well that Gajeel would attack him.

"Well, give them back!" Gajeel roared and tried to rush over to the man but he was again grabbed and thrown at the wall.

"And to Natsu I'm… well, this is difficult, I mostly never knew what he thought. But if I were to take a guess I'm like a stalker to him."

Natsu stepped back, was this the reason what this creepy feeling was?

Gray could only sympathize, after all, he has his own stalker to deal with.

"I guess that was a bit of an exaggeration," the man sweat-dropped.

"Who are you really?" Natsu asked this time.

The man looked shocked that Natsu had directly asked him a question with such a foreboding expression. If everyone's eyes weren't mistaken, the could see the man's eyes water up a bit.

The man kneeled and lowered his head in front of Natsu. "I-I'm sorry Natsu."

Everyone looked more confused than before, especially the said person since he just couldn't remember this person.

"I couldn't save you," the man's voice cracked as tears started flooding down his face.

"Wha- No, it's okay for whatever happened. I mean I'm alive now, right?" Natsu tried to cheer up the man, still confused at whatever the man was talking about.

"I don't mean your physical health. Surely by now you've noticed your misfortune or curse by now," the man wiped away his tears and stood straight up with a nonchalant face again.

"Misfortune… Curse?" This sounded like stuff to be associated with Zeref, not him.

"I do not have much time left to explain. So I will leave with one message and one warning. The message: if you truly want to know who I am, then you'll have to think back and remember me. The one who has the highest probability of remembering me is Natsu since he is the only one we kept our hands off. The warning: Beware of the tears of the ocean."

"Wha-"

"May you all rest in peace."

"Wait!"

Gajeel tried to reach out to the man but in a blink, the man vanished. His scent was gone, Gray and Gajeel could use their magic again and Porlyusica came out of her office yelling at everyone why they were making such a ruckus. She did not notice anything about a man, she did not even know anything about an intruder. All she knew was that everything was quiet one second, and the next second she could hear yelling. It was like the man wasn't ever there, or Porlyusica needed some strong hearing aids.

"Argh! My head's throbbing! There're so many mysteries!" Gray groaned. Levy fainted from all the shock she'd been through and Gajeel banged his head against the wall, trying to force his memories to come back.

Natsu stepped forward to the door. He opened the door to find a large gust blowing through the trees, plowing down any that had weak roots. He took a step outside despite the dangerous winds and closed the door.

Misfortune… if only these winds could blow his misfortune away.

The winds were surely angry today, he wouldn't be surprised if Wendy was the cause of all this, or he would since Wendy usually never got angry…

He sat down on the dirt ground and wondered, "Just who could that man be?"

* * *

 **~The Next Day~~~**

Last night, everyone spent the night at Porlyusica's house, much to Porlyusica's displeasure.

When Gajeel woke up, he found a small paper bag with his name written on it. When he opened it, he found a note and a pill. The note read Here's something to make you feel better about yourself -The Mysterious Man from yesterday. Gajeel crushed the note and his eyes twitched, this sounds like the pill is a suicide pill. So naturally, he threw the pill out of the window.

He then saw Natsu and Gray playing a game of cards on a small table. Strange, Gajeel thought Gray had wanted nothing to do with Natsu for a while because of the whole dark guild thing.

"Damn it!" Gray yelled in anger.

"Woo! I won!" Natsu cheered in glee, he acted so childish for once, although it fits because he was currently in the form of a child.

"What are you playing?" Gajeel asked.

Natsu's eyes flashed in pride. "We're playing a competitive game of Solitaire."

"What? Even I know Solitaire is a single-player game!" Gajeel shouted in disbelief.

"We're playing an evolved form of solitaire. Wanna join?" Gray offered.

"No! And why don't you play a multiplayer card game?"

"It's because that idiot doesn't know how to play anything else," Natsu and Gray said at the same time. They then turned to each other with a stressed look. "You said you could only play Solitaire! No you! Stop copying me," they both yelled in perfect synchronize.

Gajeel facepalmed as he had no idea what was going on anymore. It was like that strange event yesterday had never happened. Like everyone just slept it off or something.

"Fine then we're going to play Crazy Pineapple Poker if you know how to play-" they both glared at each other as they both said the same thing at the same time again. "ARRGGH! I'm going to win! (by cheating)"

Gajeel thought it was one of those 'births of a new friendship' kind of thing. He left Porlyusica's house without a word.

He was headed in the direction of the guild of Fairy Tail. He finally decided that he would probably go nowhere with his memories if he kept acting so desperate and reckless. So now he was going join Fairy Tail -for only money purposes of course.

Once he arrived at Fairy Tail, there was company there waiting for him.

It was Jet and Droy throwing glares at him, Levy was shyly hiding behind a tree.

"We can't forgive you for kidnapping Levy."

"Um, guys, you don't have to do this. I'm over that whole thing anyway…" Levy quietly spoke.

Gajeel glared back at them. He felt the same feeling from Phantom Lord. Tension, mistrust, the thrill of danger. Before he knew it, he was spouting nonsense to provoke these two. "Can't let bygones be bygones, huh?"

"Can't you tell no one is welcoming you? You have no shame going to this guild after all you've done. First, you destroy the guild building, then you kidnap Levy. You'll just give us more pain and suffering by joining," said Droy.

"You're ruining the guild's reputation," Jet growled.

"Hmph." Gajeel would admit that he did kidnap Levy. But he did not destroy the guild building, that was done by some other mystery. However, he would not reveal this now.

"YOU WON'T ACT CASUAL FOR LONG!" Jet sprinted towards Gajeel, his fist colliding against Gajeel's arm who blocked just in time.

Meanwhile, Droy spread seeds around Gajeel's feet and the seeds grew into vines immediately. " **PLANT TRANSFORM**!" The vines transformed into fists and uppercutted Gajeel, following up with a few other punches.

" **Wing Strike**!" Jet harshly elbowed Gajeel's stomach and he was pushed back a few meters.

Gajeel kept his tough look on but he was obviously hurting.

"Hey… What are you up to?" Jet breathed.

"That can't be it for your power," Droy said.

Levy rushed in front of Gajeel and spread her arms out like a human shield. "Stop! Guys, I know he did some bad stuff but he's really… well, he has good points…"

Gajeel sweat-dropped, this shrimp can't even name one good point about him.

Suddenly, a man with an intimidating glare approached this group. His steps echoed in everyone's ears, causing the action to stop.

"You being picked on? Huh?" The voice was commanding. A tall, muscular man with a blonde, spiky hair stood authoritatively.

"Laxus?" Jet and Droy spat out in surprise.

"So… this guy is the punk that turned my guild into a mess. And he's planning on joining this guild anyway?"

There was a short pause.

"IT'S BECAUSE OF THIS THAT WE'RE LOOKED DOWN UPON. DAMN IT!" Laxus couldn't stand it anymore, veins popped everywhere and his eyes were intense. Immediately, lightning struck down onto Gajeel without warning.

Jet and Droy were motionless with their jaws wide open in shock.

Levy jerked her head back to Gajeel to help him but Gajeel shoved her away from him.

"It's all your fault…" Laxus roared.

Gajeel was consumed by a ball of lightning, he couldn't hide his pain. "GUAAAAH!"

"St- Stop! Laxus, you're going too far! Jet screeched.

Gajeel was left on the ground, smoke came off from him. He was scorched.

"It doesn't matter how strong Laxus is… he should be able to fight back," Droy nervously sweated.

"Could it be, that Gajeel was, from the start…"

"He wanted us to recognize him as a friend so he didn't fight back, you IDIOTS!" Levy cried.

"It's all your fault we're being made fun of! Why don't you just die! I'll kill anyone who goes against Fairy Tail!" Laxus continued his assault on Gajeel with a flurry of kicks and lightning bolts.

"Stop! That's enough!" Jet yelled, finally realizing his mistake.

"SHUT UP! LITTLE RIFFRAFF SHOULD BE QUIET!" Laxus shot a bolt of lightning toward the group, specifically, it was heading towards Levy.

"LEVY!"

"Aaah!"

Just before the bolt reached Levy, Gajeel appeared in front of her and took the hit. Even with all his injuries, he managed to stay standing.

"Gajeel… he protected Levy?" Jet and Droy were astonished and frightened.

There was another silent pause.

"Is that enough? I've got work to do…" Gajeel said as he trudged towards Fairy Tail. "Don't worry about me."

Laxus walked away with a mad look.

The members of team Shadowgear left, Jet and Droy headed to their homes while Levy caught up to Gajeel.

"Hey, are you okay?"

"I thought I said to not worry about me," Gajeel muttered, but in all honesty, he was happy that Levy came to follow him.

"I'm so, so sorry about this," Levy looked down, depressed because she thought this all happened because of her.

"It's nothing," he groaned. "By the way, I have a question."

"What is it?"

"That fight back there, was that like an entrance exam or something for me to join this guild?"

Levy facepalmed, she was an idiot for worrying about this amnesiac. "Gajeel you idiot."

"What?"

* * *

 **~With Natsu and Gray~**

After losing to Gray at Forty Thieves **(A/N: Forty Thieves is also a single player card game)** Natsu and Gray finally decided to head to Fairy Tail, since Natsu finally got Porlyusica's approval to walk around. However, she clearly ordered for Natsu to not enter any battles for the next two weeks, much to Natsu's disappointment. On the way to Fairy Tail, Natsu would buy a new shirt that could cover his left guild mark.

Gray was also fairly disappointed when Natsu avoided all his questions regarding Grimoire Heart, the mysterious man yesterday, and Ultear. He guessed that these were either all touchy or too confusing matters to Natsu. However, he did learn that Natsu was not an enemy to Fairy Tail. Yes after an intense battle of Oh Hell **(A/N: A card game of three players or more)** Gray listened to Natsu tell a story. He could retell the story as if he had experienced the event himself, strange…

Natsu called the story: "Changeling." Apparently, Natsu had been in the Fairy Tail since he was a kid in this story. What happened was that Natsu took a mission to read some characters from a piece of paper. He read the words with Lucy, Gray, Erza, Loke, and a talking cat nearby. Once he finished reading the words, a strange light engulfed all of them and they all switched bodies.

When Natsu finished telling the story, Gray laughed so hard he couldn't breathe. The story sounded so ridiculous. First off, there was a talking blue cat in the story which is probably impossible. Then, the whole plot itself, it didn't end right. At the end, only Gray and Lucy switched back to their own bodies. It didn't end properly. (Gray hadn't really paid attention to Carla -that she was a talking cat too).

So Gray asked Natsu, "Where did you come up with the idea of a blue talking cat, and named Happy of all names?"

Natsu's eyes sparkled in confusion and then warmth. "I never told you the color of the cat, nor had I said the name of the cat," he smiled warmly, an emotion Natsu didn't really show a lot.

Gray's jaw gaped in confusion. "That can't be. There's no way I could just come up with random details such as that."

"Who knows, such strange phenomenons don't get explained right away," Natsu said, wondering if the phenomenon with him remembering stuff that never happened is connecting to how Gray is reacting with this story. This story was one of the 'fake memories' -as he called the strange 'memories' that would sometimes zip through his head even though he knew such events had never happened in his lifetime.

"Wait, from the way you're acting, are you implying that the talking cat was the color blue and named Happy?"

Natsu smirked, "Maybe the story I just told actually did happen."

"No, I don't remember any of this. There's no… way…" Gray noticed a tear streaming down his cheek. He felt like the story was so familiar, so… joyful that he couldn't stop himself from tearing up a tear of joy. The times of when N-

"Hey, why are you crying?" Natsu stared in confusion as he secretly cheated while Gray seemed to be having a moment.

"I'm not crying! I just feel like I forgot something that should've never been forgotten."

"Oh… so what did you forget?"

"That's what I'm trying to remember!" Gray growled in annoyance. "if only everything strange could just come to light."

Natsu laughed.

Gray was unpleased with this unusual feeling, he suddenly got the urge to fight Natsu and make a ruckus in Fairy Tail. He paused, "Hey… Did you cheat?"

"No…" Natsu held up his poker face.

"Damn it! You can't hide those extra cards in your sleeve!"

"Aw man…"

They both laughed.

* * *

Natsu and Gray had finally reached Fairy Tail. Natsu wore a confused look.

"Is it me or does the guild look different?"

"Yeah. When we were at the Tower of Heaven, the guild rebuilt itself after the damage it took from Phantom Lord.

"Oh…"

They opened the doors to find it was really dark. It was silent even though there were more people in the building than usual. Everyone seemed to have their attention to the stage.

The stage curtains lifted to show Mirajane sitting on a chair with a guitar.

"Woo! Mirajane!" The people cheered.

Natsu and Gray were standing in confusion until they saw Lucy waving to them from a table. They approached Lucy and joined her at the table.

"What's going on?" Gray asked.

"Mirajane's performing. Shh!"

Across from them was Erza eating a strawberry cake with a very pleasant look plastered onto her face.

"You seem happy," Natsu said.

Erza smirked. "Today's going to be a good day."

That raised an eyebrow from Natsu. He suddenly heard a choking noise from Erza. She pounded her chest to get the food down her throat. "Natsu..?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you look like a kid?"

"Long story," Natsu sighed.

"Although you do have to admit, Natsu sure looks adorable," Lucy laughed.

Natsu rolled his eyes. A question then popped in his head. Since Mirajane had already started singing, he whispered, "Where's Gajeel?"

Erza started laughing evilly like she remembered some devilish action she performed. Gray and Lucy were certainly spooked by this.

"Uh… Nevermind, I guess I don't need to know." Natsu shook his head and ordered a drink.

Everyone listened in harmony to Mira's song. It even soothed Natsu's stress.

Once her song ended, Mira walked off the stage. Everyone exploded in cheer and comments. Next on the stage was Makarov and some announcements.

Many booed, they wanted an encore, not some old man singing. They all ended up getting smashed by a giant fist.

"I'm not singing! Brats, I got some announcements."

Everyone quieted down.

"We have some new members."

Everyone cheered again. Some made it clear that they hoped the new members were cute girls.

"First, Gajeel Redfox!" Makarov announced. Said person stepped up onto the stage.

Of course, given Fairy Tail's history with this young man, mostly everyone booed.

"Hey! I expect every one of you to treat him nicely!" Makarov yelled.

Murmurs of disagreement lingered in the room.

"Our next new member is Juvia Lockser."

The room was then filled with cheers. It was a completely different atmosphere than with Gajeel.

Gray fell off his chair in surprise. "What?"

Juvia jumped up to the stage and blew a kiss to Gray. People growled in jealousy.

"And our last member… Ultear Milkovich!"

Natsu spilled his drink on himself when he heard that announcement. "WHAT?!"

The crowd, mostly men, screamed in joy. Many flipping tables to welcome the new members. Someone yelled, "MARRY ME!"

Ultear moved up to the stage shyly, in a stiff manner. She wore a cake costume -a dress that looked like a cake. Her face was red and nervous.

"Why's she looking so innocent and embarrassed?" Natsu blurted out in confusion. This was definitely not the Ultear he knew.

Makarov spoke up, "Well, she's a temporary member."

Natsu heard Erza quietly laugh uncontrollably. He noticed Ultear was glaring ferociously at the scarlet mage.

"Nice Dress!" Erza teased.

"Erza? What did you do?"

"Well..." she smiled as she recalled the events from yesterday. "Ultear and I had a duel. She lost."

"More like Erza lost but then begged for a rematch and then she won," Lucy breathed.

"That's… so unlike Erza," Natsu sweat-dropped. "So, what did Ultear get when she won?"

"Freedom," Erza answered. "But since we had a rematch she also had to go through the conditions of if she lost."

"Which is?"

"To temporarily join Fairy Tail and join the Miss Fairy Tail Contest. Oh and she has to wear a cake costume to catch the eyes of all the men in town for a whole week, with the exception of wearing something nice for the Miss Fairy Tail Contest."

Mira came up to them and said, "It seems like Erza has found another friend to torture."

Gray fainted after hearing these news. _Erza... and a new friend..? It'll be like the dark days with Erza and Mira..._

"One other announcement before you all continue your lives," Makarov said. "The Miss Fairy Tail Contest is coming up so girls, do your best for the 500,000 Jewel. And men, bring your cameras!" The crowd roared again, most men quickly left to buy a camera and many girls were rethinking their entry in the contest.

Lucy and Erza grinned, they were going to enter the contest. Ultear shivered.

Makarov patted Natsu's shoulder for his attention, which was easy because they were now the same size. "My office, now."

A sense of dread crawled over Natsu's spine. This sounded like he was in deep trouble. Gray woke up and teased him saying, "It's about time you get a punishment, flamebrain."

"Why would he get a punishment?" Erza asked since she was completely absent from Natsu since he was in Porlyusica's house.

"Well, it started like this…"

* * *

Natsu and Makarov walked up to the office on the second floor. Once in, Makarov shut the door and Natsu noticed he wasn't the only one here.

Gajeel and Ultear were also in the room. Gajeel looked bored while he stared at the ceiling while Ultear had this deadly aura surrounding her.

"Um… What's this about, Gramps?" Natsu asked, inching away from Ultear.

"It's about my son, Ivan."

"You have a son?" Gajeel said, an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, but unfortunately things turned out bad with him."

"If I recall correctly, I heard you excommunicated him from the guild," Ultear said, her dark aura calming down.

"That's right. He wanted to be the next guild master but at the same time he was in the darkness and learned some information that could be potentially dangerous for the guild. I also did not want him tainting my grandson, Laxus. So I excommunicated him from the guild."

"Why are you telling us about this?" Natsu asked.

"Because right now is probably a good time to strike Fairy Tail for my son."

"How so?"

"Ivan… he would be willing to do anything to hurt Fairy Tail, to hurt me. Right now is a golden opportunity because the 'ruthless Black Steel Gajeel' from Phantom Lord has joined the guild. I'm betting he'll probably try to recruit Gajeel as a spy."

"Hmm… what about me and Ultear?"

"Well Natsu, given your history as the 'untruthful Salamander' with light guilds, you're also a target for potential spy recruitment. Actually, I think you're chances of getting recruited are higher because you've been here longer and have more trust of the guild which would mean it would be easier for you to get the information you need and hurt Fairy Tail."

"You've got to be kidding me." Natsu groaned. His infiltration with Fairy Tail didn't go so well before, he didn't think another 'spy' mission was going to work for him.

And Ultear, since your 'background status' is still unknown, I doubt you'd be a target. Plus, you're a temporary member so you're chances of being recruited are highly low. So I'll give you some simple mission. I want you to go back to the council and find out anything you can about Ivan."

The three of them were silent, thinking deeply of how things would work out.

Natsu crossed his fingers and said, "Please make Gramps' idiot son choose the Iron Head over me… Please Kami-sama!"

"I never thought you to be one who prayed," Gajeel said.

"Desperate times calls for desperate measures and I desperately don't want to be another spy," Natsu hissed, he guessed that everyone in the room already knew his spy mission so he didn't need to hide it anymore.

"Makarov," Ultear said in a low tone. "You seem to be very trusting of me after the events that occurred yesterday. You sure about this? No, let me rephrase this. You're going to task two former dark mages and an amnesiac with this mission of spying on your maniacal son?"

"Yes. Because I know that deep inside, you're a good perso-" Makarov got kicked by Ultear's heels.

"Don't call me a good person!" she hissed and walked to the door.

Natsu raised an eyebrow. _So they know Ultear is also a dark mage?_

She opened the door and found three eavesdroppers.

"Brats… this was a secret mission to begin with. It does not help that you know about it. ...So, how much did you hear?"

"Everything…" Erza, Gray, and Lucy held an apologetic look.

Gajeel grinned and Natsu facepalmed.

* * *

 **Hehe.. This long update actually gets an excuse: I had trouble finding a way to execute this part of the story. Eh... not a great excuse.  
**

 **If you're wondering where Jellal is... well that'll be mentioned in the next chapter, I did not forget XD There's just so many characters... Plus that possible oc man in the middle...**

 **This story is finally moving on to the Battle of Fairy Tail arc... with twists of course. Danger's are brewing. Hope this chapter gave you some clues about the main mystery of this story.  
**

 **To be continued.. Thank you all for all of your reviews. And please continue reviewing! Yes, I'm desperate -kind of.**

 **Yeah, sorry for that off-screen duel between Erza and Ultear. I just couldn't find the right place to insert a battle.**

 **Aw man Fanfiction was so glitchy with me. Forgive me if there's some repeated stuff or missing parts. I think I fixed it though.**

 **To be continued...**


	20. Friendly Recap

**Chapter 20**

 **Friendly Recap**

"So… What are we doing out here in the forest?" Natsu asked as they were in an open field surrounded by trees in the outskirts of Magnolia. The people present were Erza, Gray, Lucy, Gajeel, and, much to Natsu's surprise, Jellal, since he was not present at Fairy Tail earlier ago. Ultear just left but she said she was going to come back soon.

"I thought we all needed a break, considering all the things we've been through," Erza said.

"You're right, it all started about a month ago and everything after that had just been days of hard work and torture. Let's see… it all started when we tried to take care of Lullaby. When I recently joined and Natsu came along for the ride too," Lucy recollected.

"Oh yeah! Then Erza and Natsu fought soon after that once we found out that he was the real Salamander," Gray said.

"We were then whisked off to go to Galuna Island when we got the information that our guildmates were captured. It was also when Natsu got 'arrested'," Erza continued.

Natsu sweat-dropped. Yes, he was 'arrested'.

"Remember that mysterious man that rescued our comrades. And he also stopped Gray from killing himself," Lucy chuckled. "I wonder who he was."

Another sweat drop from Natsu. Meanwhile, Jellal and Gajeel were curious about their adventures so they listened closely.

"And when we come back, we immediately found ourselves in a war between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. Because the building was destroyed by a certain someone's iron poles." People looked over to Gajeel.

Gajeel held his hands up, "Wait, wait. I'm going to tell you something you might not believe but I was not the one who destroyed your guild. It was destroyed before I even got the chance to destroy it."

"Don't worry, we don't hold any grudges anymore, you don't have to shift the bla-," Gray said.

"Wait… Gajeel's right," Natsu interrupted. "He didn't even know how to use magic until after I fought him. So Gajeel could not be the culprit of destroying the building."

"So someone else destroyed our building? So we waged war with Phantom Lord for no reason?" Gray wondered.

"No, even if it was not a Phantom Lord member who caused the destruction of the former building, it was Phantom Lord's fault for kidnapping Levy and attempting to kidnap Lucy," Erza said.

"And they 'supposedly killed Erza' plus they were about to destroy the whole building. Now that I think about it, how did Erza get from Magnolia to the Tower of Heaven?"

Jellal answered, "At that time, Phantom Lord and the Tower of Heaven made an alliance. In exchange for bringing Erza Scarlet to the Tower of Heaven, the people of the Tower of Heaven would produce weapons for Phantom Lord. One weapon being the Jupiter cannon. So when Erza was about to get exploded to bits, I teleported in and out with Erza." Jellal looked down, ashamed.

"Haha, if it weren't for you, Erza would've been obliterated by now. You should look cheerful, you unintentionally saved her," Natsu smiled and patted his back.

"And thank goodness Natsu was there to stop the Jupiter cannon and defeat Jose or we would've all been doomed," Lucy said, completely leaving out _how_ Natsu beat Jose. "Didn't he summon a demon to counter the blast from Jupiter?"

Gray laughed, "I remember how surprised everyone was."

Erza, Jellal, and Gajeel tilted their head in confusion. They weren't there to see it so they could barely believe it. But they guessed that anything could happen with the Salamander.

"Then when we successfully beat Phantom Lord, Natsu and Gray rushed off to the Tower of Heaven to save Erza. How did you guys know where she was in the first place?" Lucy said.

"Uh… I have sources," Natsu sweat-dropped. Everyone in the group immediately knew that those 'sources' was Ultear.

"I knew something was up so I followed him," Gray said.

"But how about you guys, I heard while we were at the Tower of Heaven, you guys also had trouble with something," Natsu asked.

"Yeah, we all met Wendy and it didn't look like she was happy to see us," Gajeel sighed. "I missed the chance to interrogate her on my past."

"Moving on… After that whole event with Wendy, Loke gave us tickets to Akane Resort," Lucy continued. "I was never told the story of what happened at the Tower of Heaven."

"Well, the gist of it was… An Etherion Blast hit the tower, Gray fled safely to land while Ultear faced Jellal and Natsu saved me. And then… one of my childhood friends got possessed by something and Natsu had to put him down," Erza answered quietly.

"Possessed? That's the first I've ever heard of anything! Do you know what your friend was possessed by?" Lucy asked.

"I don't know, but I feel like it has some connection with some glyphs I saw at Galuna island."

Natsu took note of this, maybe he would visit the Galuna Island later.

"So with everyone immobile from all the fights, I was tasked with carrying everyone to safety," Erza smirked at the memory.

"Oh yeah! I remember seeing you carry Natsu in bridal style with two people tied to your back!" Gray laughed. "What a sight." The others sweatdropped.

"When I landed, I somehow lost track of Natsu and Ultear, and Jellal ran away."

"Then I brought you to Akane resort to rest," Gray recalled. "After the recovery, we went to the newly rebuilt Fairy Tail. And we celebrated Erza's return."

"This part raised some questions for me. At this point, Ultear came and shoved Jellal to us and Natsu suddenly appeared as a badly injured child in a forest and he was found by Gajeel who claimed to hear voices that let him to stumble upon him," Lucy pointed out.

"Well…" Jellal started. "I was lost in a forest when I happened to meet a blue haired girl. She approached me while calling out my name in surprise. She suddenly rushed at me with some kind of daggers but Ultear suddenly came out of nowhere and pulled me out of that mess."

"Blue haired girl? Do you mean Wendy?" Gajeel said with an intense glare.

"How should I know? I've never met her."

"So then Ultear comes to us claiming that some Dark Guild is after Jellal," Erza said.

"Then Natsu… Why are you still a kid?" Gray asked.

Natsu was quiet for a while. There was no harm in telling them, after all, he was no longer affiliated with Grimoire Heart. He somewhat trusted them now and even if he was abandoned -as sad as it already is- it would be no different than what everyone else had done with him.

"You don't need to be so secretive, eventually we'll be able to dig up all your secrets so it's inevitable. Like right now this group already knows that you and Ultear are part of Grimoire Heart," Erza urged for an answer.

"Ultear's also part of Grimoire Heart?" Jellal and Gray exclaimed at the same time.

"Well… almost everyone here… Only a select few know of this so don't tell anyone."

"Okay, I'll tell you," Natsu huffed. "My Guild Master got mad at me so he beat me up, turned me into a kid and threw me into the sea. Then I quit and fled to wherever my small limbs could take me. Are you happy with the answer now?"

Everyone was frozen in shock. They could only feel bad. Although it was a dark guild so that much is to be expected, right?

Erza furiously clenched her fist. "No, I'm not happy with that answer. I thought at first you were just being reckless with some random drug. But that's some twisted Guild Master you have, to beat someone who's already fatally injured from the Tower of Heaven."

"You think I do drugs? And why are you being so angry? It's the cycle of my life: I make someone proud and then they abandon me, it's kind of getting normal now…" Natsu deadpanned. He noticed everyone stare at him in shock and that's when he had a sudden realization: He just opened up to them. He internally exploded, _HE ACTUALLY OPENED UP TO THEM! SCREW HIS CHILD SELF! He was so going to kill himself._

Erza broke the silence as she went over to Natsu and gave a hard, big hug that hurt more than it should have since it's just a hug. "I'M DYING!" Natsu screeched, he's like the most fragile thing since he's in the form of a kid.

Lucy, Gray, and Erza kind of got the gist of it. After being abandoned by something he's been a part of for so long, Natsu unconsciously carried himself to the last thing he could probably call 'home'. "Of course we thought you did drugs! You're a former dark mage after all!"

"What a stereotype," Natsu gasped.

"I understand now Natsu, we - Fairy Tail- will never abandon you!" Erza said, Gray and Lucy joined in the hug.

"What are you talking about? Stop acting like a doting, protective person!" Natsu choked. "I'm over everything, I'm not sad, I'm just going to continue with my life!"

The three let go and Natsu finally had room to breathe.

"So are you going to turn back into an adult soon?" Lucy asked. "It kind of feels weird having an all destructive, dark mage look and act like a child."

"Maybe," said a new, familiar voice. Ultear had just arrived. "I just found out that the quickest way to undo this transformation spell is to just act like an adult."

"Seriously?" Natsu wondered, befuddled.

"It's one of those spells that wear off in time," Ultear rephrased. "Now then, I think it's about time to get to the main event of this meeting."

"Main event?" All the boys had question marks above their heads.

"The duel," Erza said. "It was supposed to be a team duel but since Ultear and I already dueled, our teammates have to duel against each other."

"Why was there even a duel in the first place?" Natsu sweat-dropped.

"I think Erza challenged Ultear to a duel for some personal reason then they added Gajeel into it because Porlyusica needed to see how strong he was to determine something about his amnesia," Lucy answered.

"Who's my opponent?" Gajeel smirked, determined to beat whoever they threw at him.

"Her," Ultear pointed to someone who came with her. Pink, long hair. Old woman…

"Porlyusica?" Gajeel and everyone else gaped.

"I'm really too old for this but I guess this is my best way to analyze your performance," Porlyusica said while holding out a broom as her weapon.

"She's a healer, not a fighter!" Gray exclaimed.

"This old healer still has some tricks up her sleeve. Young human, prepare for my wrath!"

"I- I can't hit an old woman!" Gajeel shouted.

"Well, you have to find out something," Ultear said.

And the duel commenced. It started with Gajeel running away from the old lady trying to whack him with a broom.

Everyone laughed. This was going to be a great memory to remember.

"Okay, okay," Lucy slowly calmed down from the contagious laughter. "While those two have a duel, let's continue our reminisce."

"Right, let's see…" Erza started. "Cana told me of the dead body you all found that looked like me so I went and checked it out."

"Brave…" Gray commented.

"It turned out to be possessed… I'm still waiting for answers from Jellal," Erza glared at said person.

Jellal winced. "Um… About that…"

"Finally going to give me answers?" Erza frowned.

"Someone brought her to the Tower of Heaven. They said that they would not be needing her anymore and that they were going to let us do whatever we wanted with it. When I saw it, I immediately… killed it because I knew it wasn't the real one, and I asked what it was. They called it a failure of death, that it wasn't the real Erza Scarlet and that it wasn't even human to begin with."

"What?" Lucy and Gray gaped.

"That's what happened and I used it to fake Erza's death."

Erza had a grossed out expression. There's some kind of group of people who made a clone of herself? She felt like she was going to puke…

"Okay, moving on!" Ultear decided it was best to change the subject now before the redhead throws up. "Lucy and I had a nice long chat and Juvia joined in later. When Lucy offered to lead me to my apartment…" she gulped. "That bastard appeared out of nowhere."

Ultear also seemed to have a sick face so Lucy continued for her. "A guy named Zancrow from Grimoire Heart attacked us and destroyed the town. He was then stopped by another Grimoire Heart member and they left. I saw Ultear's Grimoire Heart mark and realized that she too was a member. It was at that point when Ultear broke down and Erza decided to 'cheer her up' by starting the duel."

Natsu could not imagine an Ultear mentally breaking down. He winced at the thought. "Have Ultear and Jellal recovered their magic?" he asked. Lucy nodded yes.

"I went shopping in town this morning and I didn't see a thing destroyed," Gray said.

"Ah, Ultear used her time arc magic to restore everything to its former building."

"I see…" Natsu said.

"I guess it's my turn to tell my point of view. After taking a refreshing walk, I decided to go back to Porlyusica's house. When I got there, I saw Levy and Gajeel shaking in the corner of the house, terrified. Natsu was awake and greeted me. Then a mysterious man came in the house and really spouted some nonsense."

"Wow, how detailed," Lucy muttered, sarcastically.

Natsu noticed how sick Erza and Ultear were so he decided to cut this meeting short. "Okay, I'm tired so I'm heading home. Bye."

At that, he left.

Lucy looked at the figure of Natsu disappear into the trees. "By the way, where is Natsu's home?" she wondered.

"Wanna find out?" Gray smirked.

Gray and Lucy left the others to follow Natsu. They figured those four -plus Porlyusica- would be enough to handle themselves. They were closely trailing a few meters behind Natsu. Since Natsu could not access his magic, they figured if they were just quiet enough, he would not notice.

It took two minutes to get to Natsu's home.

Yes, this grand home is… a hammock.

"What kind of lame excuse of a home is that?" Gray exclaimed, wide eyed.

Natsu jumped. "What are you guys doing there!" he shouted.

"Woah, so you really couldn't tell we were right behind you," Lucy noted.

"Okay, explain why your home is not a home!" Gray yelled, a wave of pity for the fire dragon slayer swelled over him.

"Um… because with all my injuries and all the big events that have been going on lately, I have not been able to get any money. So, with my amazing haggling, I bought a hammock!" his eyes twinkled.

Gray and Lucy sweatdropped. "Um… you could just stay at my place until you get some money," Lucy offered.

"Uh… sure. But can I bring the hammock? I've worked so hard for this."

"Sure."

Gray sweat-dropped. He would've never believed that the Salamander could be so helpless. "Come on, let's get back to the others."

And so, they walked back to their previous location. There, they found Erza and Ultear playing cards with Jellal watching them and Porlyusica was standing triumphantly over Gajeel.

"Let me guess, Porlyusica won…" Lucy wore a dumbfounded expression.

Erza and Ultear nodded. "T'was expected of my teammate," Ultear beamed.

Erza growled.

"So what are you doing now?" Lucy asked.

"We're having another duel with cards. Since Erza is bitter over her teammate's loss." Ultear chuckled.

"Oh!" Natsu grinned. "You're playing Solitaire? Let me join in too!"

"Me too!" Gray smiled, "I'm not losing this time, Natsu."

"Beat it! I'm the one and only champ at this game!"

"Oh? You dare challenge me? The queen of cards?" Ultear smirked.

"I think you all are underestimating me. I've played this everyday since I laid my eyes on a deck of cards!" Erza hissed.

"You first saw a deck of cards two years ago! And I was the one that taught you!" Gray laughed.

Jellal's eyes lit up for once, "In that case, I'll play too. No one has ever beaten me in a card game!" A dark aura swirled around him.

"Ha! I finally get to see Jellal put his game face on! Well then, BRING IT ON!" Erza taunted.

Lucy was motionless from shock. _Are they all drunk?_ She gave up at acting normal, "Multiplayer Solitaire? Ack, I'm joining in too you guys!"

Porlyusica went back to her house and Gajeel just laid on the floor, utterly defeated.

"Hey Gajeel, are you going to join too?" Natsu called.

He stared up at the clouds and imagined a flying cat. First he got defeated by an old woman, now he's imagining cats. Might as well play a multiplayer game of Solitaire.

"Don't think I can't win because I'm an amnesic!" He yelled and grabbed a few cards.

And thus, a competitive game of Solitaire began. All worries were all washed away like that.

Until a storm came.

And lightning struck.

* * *

 **I thought I needed to give you guys a break from the seriousness and the many changes in POVs lately, so here you have a nice recap of everything's that happened along with some new information -which means DON'T SKIP THIS CHAPTER. I thought this was a fun chapter that showed some bonding between the whole group. Well, most of the group.  
**

 **So guys if you have any questions that I can answer at this point of the story, I'll incorporate the answers to look like this chapter. It's just the group chilling and having fun. Yeah, sorry, I didn't add any of the blue haired girls... whoops. I'm still trying to find a defining character for them, heck, it's hard enough with me trying to figure out Jellal's character right now.  
**

 **Woo! Chapter 20! Yay! Apparently in the editor I work on, this whole story is about 145 pages long! Congrats reading 145 pages of torture! Just kidding, I'm actually very happy and proud of myself, I can't stop smiling. :D  
**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Thank you.**

 **To be continued...**


	21. Fake Memories

**Chapter 21**

 **Fake Memories**

"It's almost Fantasia, when many people gather from other towns to celebrate this festival," Carla muttered to herself. She stared down to a paper full of writing and instructions in the darkness of the woods.

"Sorry Fairy Tail," she grit her teeth in pain and closed her watery eyes. "But this is for Wendy's sake!"

A light beamed in the forest. Only to be surrounded by darkness.

 **~Fairy Tail~~~**

After the _competitive_ card game, Natsu accepted Lucy's offer and decided to move into her apartment.

He brought his hammock and then followed Lucy to her apartment. To his surprise, Ultear was her next door neighbor.

"Good night," they said to Ultear as they left into Lucy's dormitory.

As soon as Natsu stepped into the room, he felt uneasy and a dizzying headache seemed to strike him. It felt like the time when he first stepped into Fairy Tail. He almost lost balance when some voices entered his head.

It was like any other time familiar voices striked through his mind but it was as powerful as the first time. He hoped he wasn't going to faint like the first time.

" _But now… I'm glad that I joined this guild," Lucy's voice said. "Cause Fairy Tail is… *sound of door opening* ...THE BEST!" she screamed that last bit in surprise._

" _Welcome home," Gray's voice said._

" _Welcome!" that was Happy's voice._

" _You have a nice room," Erza's voice said._

" _Yo," this time it was his own voice._

" _DON'T GANG UP ON ME!" Lucy's voice screamed._

" _Seeing how Phantom came to this town," Erza's voice started. "It's possible that they got all of our addresses."_

" _Eh?"_

" _I don't think it'll happen, but they might attack us when we're alone," Gray's voice said._

" _That's why Mira said we should stay in a group for a while…" said Happy's voice._

" _R-really!?" Lucy's voice had an uneasy tone._

" _Everyone's having a sleepover today," Happy's voice said._

" _You're of marriageable age… I wouldn't feel right of only Natsu and Gray spent the night," Erza's voice said. "That's why I decided to join."_

" _So Natsu and Gray staying over was a given?" Lucy's voice said._

" _Just as a pastime!" Natsu's voice snarled._

" _Puun," it sounded like that celestial spirit that looked like a snowman._

" _Woah! Plue! What is that you're eating? Gimme some," his own voice was ecstatic._

" _I'm going to hit the sack, so pipe down," Gray's voice said in a tired tone._

" _Erza loooooook, I found some kinky underwear," Happy's voice announced._

" _A-Amazing… you wear things like this..?" Erza's voice sounded shocked._

" _You're really making yourself at home, aren't you?" Lucy sounded like she sighed._

" _Either way, guys… You smell sweaty. Since we'll be sleeping in the same room, I suggest you take a shower," Erza's voice said._

" _No way, I don't feel like it," his own voice said._

" _I'm too sleepy," Gray's voice said._

" _I guess there's no other way," Erza's voice said. "We can shower together, like in the old days…"_

" _WHAT KIND OF RELATIONSHIP DO YOU GUYS HAVE!?" Lucy's voice shouted._

Natsu found himself tightly clutching his forehead when the voices stopped.

"Natsu? Are you okay? You look pale and you're sweating a lot…" Lucy said, she went over to Natsu to check his temperature but he slapped her a way.

"Ah!" Lucy winced.

Realizing what he did, Natsu quickly apologized. "Um… I'm fine. I just need to sleep." He laid down on to Lucy's bed automatically.

"Eh? But that's my bed!" Lucy shouted but Natsu made no response. She decided to just take a shower and sleep on one of her comfortable chairs.

Natsu sighed. He thought he was used to these strange dizzy spells. But most of these strange dreams usually happened when he was sleeping. This time he was awake, like the first time.

And the dream… from the sound of it, the voices were talking about Phantom Lord and staying over the night to stay from caution. But in reality, they already defeated Phantom Lord. It never happened, but it felt so nostalgic, like all the other strange dreams. And now he knew something was up with these strange dreams ever since he told one of these dreams to Gray. Like how did Gray know the color and name of Happy when Natsu never gave those two details. Gray didn't seem to know the answer either, like he didn't even know what he was saying.

Maybe if he told this story to Lucy, then she would have a similar reaction…

No, not now. He was too tired and Lucy needed to get prepared for the Miss Fairy Tail contest. There was always tomorrow… For now, Natsu would call these strange dreams... _fake memories._

Now that he made up a name for something as bizarre as his strange dreams, he hoped he wouldn't mix up what happened in the fake memories with his real memories.

 **~The next day~~~**

It was a new day… and the weather wasn't nice. It was very windy and it felt like a storm was coming. It could rain hard any moment now.

Natsu walked out of Lucy's apartment. Since Lucy was participating the the Miss Fairy Tail Contest, she left early. So Natsu was left alone to walk to Fairy Tail by himself, or at least that's what he planned.

He spotted a familiar shade of blue hair a walking crowd.

"Hey! Jellal!" he yelled.

Said person turned his head to the one who called him. "Natsu?"

"What are you doing?" Natsu asked as he caught up to Jellal.

"I'm going to watch the Miss Fairy Tail contest. Are you coming too?"

"Yeah. Speaking of Fairy Tail, are you part of the guild?"

"Oh, no. I'm not a member of your guild. Ultear enrolled me as a client for Fairy Tail. I am supposedly under their protection from whoever is trying to capture me."

"So that's why you always stick around the guild. Does that mean the Council still doesn't know that you were the mastermind of the Tower of Heaven and Etherion operation?"

"No, it seems like Ultear perfectly covered up everything even when the culprit should've been obvious."

"Haha, she is a master at covering everything up," Natsu smiled, well except for covering up her mark from Fairy Tail that day. He noticed how the guild was getting even louder than usual. "Oh, it's going to begin soon, we should hurry."

Natsu and Jellal rushed into the building and chose a seat next to Gray.

"Alcohol please!" Natsu called.

Gray crossed his arms, "Aren't you a little too young to be drinking?"

"Yes. But since a certain new member said the fastest way to turn back into an adult was to act like an adult, I'm going to drink!"

"Okay… And it looks like the contest is about to start."

"People of Magnolia Town! And people from other towns! And those who especially came from the underworld, don't forget to go back to your graves when it's over! Okay?!" The announcer began. "For what you have all been waiting for! The Fairy Tail Beauties will perform on this stage! Let the contest begin!"

The people roared with cheers. Some started betting on who would win. Since he felt a nerve racking stare, Gray betted on Juvia. Natsu betted on Erza, surely the Titania would force everyone to vote for her.

"The announcer will be me, the sand magician, Max Alrose!"

"That guy, for him to take this responsibility…" Gray whispered to Natsu. "Hey! Are you even paying attention?"

Natsu dazedly looked up. "Sorry, I slept late after the card game… And since I'm in the form of a child, I can't stop myself from taking a nap… zzz," he lied, he was just feeling the symptoms of another fake memory coming.

Gray sweat-dropped. "I thought you were supposed to act like an adult?"

"Eh...zzz…"

"MAY I INTRODUCE TO YOU OUR FIRST CONTESTANT! MISS CANA ALBERONA!"

"YAHOO!"

"SECOND CONTESTANT! JUVIA LOCKSER!"

"YEAAAAH!"

"This is for you Gray-sama!" Juvia blew a kiss to Gray.

"Uh...huh? Well, do your best Juvia!" Gray had question marks popping out from his head.

"AW GRAY-SAMA! I WILL DO MY BEST!"

As each contestant was called, Natsu felt something amiss. He snapped out of his drowsiness and turned alert.

Noticing Natsu's change in behavior, Gray asked, "What's wrong?"

"I have a bad feeling…"

"Seriously? I thought you couldn't feel any presences of magic in this form, but I can't really doubt your senses…"

Natsu frowned. "You're right, I can't feel any magical presences. Which means this bad feeling is probably a stomach ache." He slumped down on his chair and continued to slumber.

Gray sighed.

"NOW FOR OUR FOURTH CONTESTANT! THE STRONGEST WOMAN IN FAIRY TAIL, ERZA SCARLET!"

"WOOO She's soo cool!"

Jellal's nose bled when he saw Erza requip into the gothic loli outfit. Elfman cheered, "My big sis' is better!" This in turn made Erza throw a sword at Elfman.

"I'm sorry!"

"FIFTH CONTESTANT, THE FAIRY, CUTE AND KNOWLEDGEABLE, LEVY MCGARDEN!"

"WOW!"

Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"SIXTH CONTESTANT, SEXY COWGIRL, BISCA MOULIN!"

"SUPER CUTE!"

"SEVENTH CONTESTANT! SUPER ROOKIE… GIVE IT UP FOR! LUCY H-"

"No! Don't say my last name!" Lucy pushed herself past the curtains to stop Max. "Hehe… Well… I'll dance with my spirits-"

"Number Eight."

"Number Eight? Are you talking about me?" Ultear's head popped through the curtains to peek at the audience.

"Wait, I haven't even started yet…" Lucy muttered.

"If you talk about fairy, then it's me. If you talk about beauty, then it's me. That's right, it's all ME," a new contestant came up with a fan held out in front of her face. "The champion will definitely be me, Evergreen! It's boring, so we'll end the beauty contest here!"

"WHAAT!?"

"Evergreen?" Gray exclaimed.

"She came back?" Elfman wondered.

"Quit playing around! This beauty contest concerns my living!" Lucy yelled.

"No, you should keep doing this so I don't have to do this at all," Ultear hissed.

"Lucy! Ultear! Don't look into her eyes!" Gray shouted. But it was too late. One glance at Evergreens eyes and Lucy was turned into cold stone. Ultear was no exception either.

"THIS IS TERRIBLE! EVERYBODY RUN!" Max yelled into the microphone which hurt many people's ears. Many of the townspeople fled from the building. Most of the Fairy Tail mages stayed.

"What are you doing Evergreen? Are you trying to ruin the festival?!"

"Doesn't a festival have a main show?" Evergreen smiled, she rose the curtains to show all the other contestants had turned to stone.

"You fool! Turn them back to normal!" Makarov shouted with a quite angry face.

Suddenly, lightning struck the stage to everyone's surprise. "Oi, Fairy Tail idiots… The real festival begins now!" On the stage appeared three men, with Evergreen standing beside them.

"Laxus!" Makarov exclaimed.

"Freed and Bickslow!" Gray grit his teeth.

"The Raijinshuu, Laxus and his bodyguards!"

"Why don't we play a game…" Laxus devilishly grinned. "Old Geezer?"

"Don't do something stupid. We have to get ready for fantasia! Turn them back to normal NOW!"

"Fantasia is late at night. If we hurry, people might get to see it." Laxus bolted out of the building with the Raijinshuu before Makarov could stop them.

"STOP!"

The lightning bolted back next to Lucy.

"I'll take these girls as hostages. I'll destroy them one by one if you break the rules… Like I said, this is the main show."

"There are things that can't be taken as a joke Laxus!" Makarov seethed in anger.

"Of course I'm serious," Laxus smirked.

"It's just a game, to find out who is the strongest here, in Fairy Tail," Freed and Bickslow said.

"The rules are simple, the last survivor wins!"

"If you want to free these lovely ladies, you'll have to defeat us first," Evergreen explained.

"There's four of us, and about a hundred of you… Aaah! We're at a total disadvantage! Gyahahahaha!" Bickslow teased.

"The time limit is three hours. If you cannot defeat us before the time is up, then these girls… will be reduced to sand."

"What!"

"Are you serious?!"

"Y… you can't go that far…!"

Evergreen continued, "The battlefield covers the whole of Magnolia. The moment you find one of us, the battle begins."

"DON'T YOU SCREW WITH ME!" Makarov roared as he transformed into a giant.

"I told you to calm down, didn't I? Let's enjoy this little bit of entertainment." In a bright flash, the four of them were gone.

"LET THE BATTLE OF FAIRY TAIL… BEGIN!"

"NGHHHHH I'VE GOT TO SAVE BIG SIS AND THE OTHERS! DAMN THOSE ASSHOLES!" Elfman yelled.

At that, everyone rushed out the building in fury, anger, and desperation.

"DAMN HIM! I'LL PUT HIM IN HIS PLACE! THAT DAMN BRAT!" Makarov bellowed as he rushed oth the guild… at least he tried to get out of the guild. But he ran into an invisible wall at the entrance.

Gray noticed the master slam into nothing as he was running by. "What are you playing at, old man?"

"What?" I can't go any further! There is an invisible wall!"

"What's wrong with you, at a time like this? I'm not feeling any invisible wall!" Gray shouted as he tried to pull Makarov to the other side. They stopped when they noticed writing in the air.

"Is this… Freed's enchantment?"

"Enchantment?"

"It's a form of Barrier magic placed upon a location, designed to trap those who stray within it's borders. Those who stray within the enchantment are placed under certain 'rules'... and without following them, escape is impossible."

The writing read: **Rule: Those above the age 80, and stone statues, may not pass**.

"What the hell's with this magic? It's like some kid saying "Because I said so" and it's actually working!" Gray said in shock. "So what? Because of this magic, you won't get out of here?"

"The enchantment's rules are absolute!"

Gray frowned. "Well, I guess we'll just have to give it our best shot," and he dashed off.

"Gray!"

Makarov put his head down. "Is there anybody who can actually defeat him…?" He noticed someone hiding behind a wall. "Reedus?"

The large man cowardly hid. "Yes?"

"Oh good! Could you ask Porlyusica if she has a cure for purification magic for me?"

"Yes! I can handle that!"

"Uggghhhhh…." Makarov and Reedus were surprised by the sudden noise, they thought there was nobody else left.

"Natsu?" Makarov asked.

"Yes… I'm still alive… I just drank too much alcohol…" he groaned.

Makarov crossed his arms. Natsu could defeat Laxus, if he was in his normal form. This one is… useless.

"Could you go with Reedus to get medicine from Porlyusica?"

"No," Natsu quickly answered. "I'm too drunk. Plus, I don't… think I can get past that invisible wall…"

Makarov's face was quickly froze. "You're over 80!? I won't believe this!"

"Hey, respect your elders," Natsu smirked.

Makarov picked Natsu up.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Throwing you to the other side."

"What?" No reaction was quick enough, Makarov pitched Natsu to the other side of the invisible wall… and it worked. Natsu gaped, quickly realizing what happened, "No this can't be possible…"

"Ha! Brat! Trying to lie to me about your age!" the old man laughed.

"Wait, this shouldn't be happening…" Natsu whispered to himself. _Maybe it was this age reversing spell. But even then, Igneel should still be inside him and over age 400! Unless this age reversing spell affected Igneel too_. Natsu put his hands to his head and internally screamed, " _THAT WOULD MAKE NO SENSE WHATSOEVER!_ "

"I'm still drunk and useless!" Natsu argued as he went back into the building and laid down onto a table.

"Ah… that's right… Okay Reedus, I think you should go now."

"R-right…" He sprinted out of the building.

Makarov put his hand on his chin. "Is there really no one else who can defeat Laxus..?"

Suddenly, more runes appeared on the invisible wall.

 _ ***Click***_

 **Battle of Fairy Tail progress report… Jet vs Droy vs Alzack**

"What's this?" Makarov yelled. "Why are they fighting each other?"

 **Winner: Alzack. Jet and Droy are no longer able to fight. Fairy Tail members remaining: 81**

More runes of battles kept appearing. It looked like someone was hacking the wall and inserting a lot of words and adding clicking noises.

"Stop this!" Makarov screamed, "Just stop it, you fools!"

Makarov stared down to the floor. "At this rate, everyone who was petrified will end up as dust, and they'll never be coming back…"

"Ah, come on- even Laxus wouldn't do that," Natsu mumbled. "He can be an ass sometimes but he's still a member of our guild, isn't he?"

"What?" Makarov went over to Natsu in surprise. "What did you say?"

"This is just a… battle festival…" Natsu mumbled in his sleep.

"You're sleep talking that Laxus wouldn't go too far? That he's a comrade?"

"… _fake memory…_ " Natsu slept talked.

"Fake memory? What's this boy spouting?" Makarov said to himself. He looked at the invisible wall.

 _ ***Click***_

 **Fairy Tail members remaining: 42**

"Already half our members have been knocked out?"

 **Evergreen vs Elfman, Victor: Evergreen**

 _ ***Click***_

 **Combatants Remaining: 41**

"Laxus…" Makarov grit his teeth. He was cornered.

 **Freed vs Reedus, Victor: Freed. Combatants Remaining: 40**

Makarov was speechless, their chance to get Porlyusica to save the girls was gone. Fairy Tail was going to lose.

"How're are you feeling, old man?"

Makarov turned around to find his grandson behind him. Natsu woke up too to find the visitor. "Laxus?" he rubbed his eyes.

"Laxus… Damn you…" Makarov snarled.

"Your allies… no you usually just call them brats, don't you. Well, how does it feel, watching those brats of your pound on another into the ground? It's a shame, with Natsu and Erza both out of the picture, I guess there's nobody out there with the power to stand up to the Raijinshuu..."

"..."

"Do you surrender?"

"Nghh…"

"There's still Gray…" Natsu yawned.

"Gray? Hahah, so you've got high hopes for that loser, huh?"

"I wouldn't underestimate Gray if I were you, Laxus."

They all looked to the runes.

 _ ***Click***_

 **Gray vs Bickslow, Gray is no longer able to fight. Remaining Combatants: 28**

Makarov was shaking nervously to the results.

"HAHAHAHAHA! What did I tell you, huh?" Laxus laughed.

Natsu broke Laxus' laughter. "Well, that was to be expected."

"Wha-" Makarov and Laxus looked confused at Natsu.

"Bickslow trapped Gray into runes that wouldn't let him be able to use magic. Then Bickslow attacked Gray when he was defenseless. I'm kind of disappointed in that Ice Princess that he couldn't handle any more… but this is all just a game," Natsu's eyes glared at Laxus Natsu tried to stand up, but he fell down immediately. "Damn it, I'm still drunk."

"How do you know this?" Laxus shouted.

Makarov got the idea from Laxus' reaction that Natsu was correct on how Gray was defeated.

" _Fake memories_ is what I call this ability of mine. They're like dreams of the past that never happened and dreams of the future that always happen but in an alternative way from the dream. And right now, I had a dream that at the end of this Battle of Fairy Tail thing, no matter how or what happens, YOU lose, (hopefully)," Natsu pouted. Wait- did he just tell them his secret that he only just figured out last night? Man, he was so drunk.

"You're joking. So you have some kind of premonition ability?"

"No, this is hardly a prediction of another time period. They never happen exactly as foretold. I just use this ability to get information. Like I know your father put a lightning dragon slayer magic lacrima in your body. I know you were weak when you were young. And I know that deep inside your damn heart that you don't think of anyone of us as enemies."

"I don't believe you," Laxus growled.

"DAMN YOU DON'T!" Natsu suddenly got into a drunken fury and slammed his tiny hands to the table. He was tired of everything right now, so if he could bring this battle to an end quick, he would. "I DARE YOU TO USE FAIRY LAW!"

Makarov coughed, "ARE YOU INSANE!? Wait, how do you even know of this magic?"

"Do I seriously have to explain it again?" Natsu sighed. But in all honesty, he first heard of Fairy Law from Purehito.

Laxus stepped forward and put his hands together.

"Laxus, no! Natsu, stop enraging him!" Makarov screeched. He had used his voice so much, that he started sounding dry.

The two ignored the old man.

"I'm not afraid of you," Natsu spat and held his fists up. "You're just a Laxus."

"I'm just a Laxus?" Laxus' eyes widened, it looked like he was going to go out of control.

"Don't just say he's _just a Laxus,_ YOU IDIOT!" Makarov shouted.

"Haha…" Laxus laughed. "This is one of the first time someone just referred to me as just Laxus rather than my old man's grandson…"

Natsu was about to spout some more, but Makarov covered the fire dragon's mouth in time.

"Fine, I'll give you my judgement."

"Bring it on!"

"Shut up, Natsu!" Makarov cried. He couldn't really stop Laxus since the Laxus that was right in front of them was a psychic projection.

"I'll show you my **Fairy Law**."

* * *

 **I'm starting to get skeptical releasing chapters. I mean, I've just had too much fun writing that I may have gotten too ahead of myself and I may have written something that probably makes no sense. What I'm aiming for is a surprise, not confusion... So yeah, I've tried revising chapters like crazy. I guess I'm just unsure of my revising/explaining abilities. Plus, I don't want too many things happening at once. Should I doubt my writing? I guess the right answer should be no, but the human mind is complex so I'll always have this uneasy -but excited- feeling when I release a chapter... Okay, enough of my blabbering, I already know this is the only way to move forward with this story. Like the fish would say, "Just keep swimming."  
**

 **Arc's moving fast. By the way... if you happen to be a kid who's actually reading up to this chapter -which I highly doubt would ever happen... Don't drink. It's bad for you. XD  
**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter. :P  
**


	22. Stay Calm

**Chapter 22**

 **Stay Calm**

" **Sky dragon's Hidden Scythe!** " Wendy roared as she cut down a patch of trees with just the power of wind alone. It didn't matter if a few trees were gone, there were a million more in this forest. Although she did have to be a bit careful, since the base was nearby.

"Training again?"

Wendy turned around to face the source of the voice. There stood a slim, average height man. His skin was tanned and his maroon hair was styled in a spiky, upward fashion.

"Cobra…"

"I'd have to say, nice move. It'd probably cut a giant group of people in half."

"What do you want, Cobra?" Wendy said, ignoring Cobra's compliment.

"Another monotonous statement? Fine, whatever. I'm just going to relay to you your next mission: capture Jellal Fernandez. I'll give you a hint, he's in Magnolia."

"Fetch him yourself. I know this is your mission but you're just too lazy to do it."

"Aw, I thought I was doing you a favor," Cobra smirked.

"What do you mean?" Wendy said as she mowed down some more trees with a kick.

"You can't hide your thoughts from me. We used an incomplete sample of Nirvana on you, so while a good majority of you is bad, a tiny minority is _good._ Angel told me what happened the other day. You met with some people you knew the other day."

"I attacked them. You can't tell me that attacking people is good."

"No… I noticed ever since you came back from that mission, you've had a longing to go to _Magnolia._ Remember, I can hear everything."

"What a nuisance. I thought I told you to get out of my thoughts," Wendy snapped.

Cobra ignored her. "You've had a longing to go back to this _big brother Gajee_ l and this _Carla_. And to top it all off, I know that your _big brother Natsu_ is in that town. Plus, you'd get to meet _Jellal_ again."

"You're basically telling me to leave Oracion Seis and live in Magnolia," Wendy stated. "And it's not working."

"I think I'm just doing you a favor. It should be a fast travel from here to Magnolia due to high winds. You should ride one," Cobra laughed and he vanished from the scene.

"..."

Wendy did not want anyone else to see her in her state right now. When she met Gajeel and Carla again, she felt that she _needed_ to go with them. She didn't want them to think she was a cold blooded, merciless killer… even though she kind of attacked them without hesitation. It was already a miracle that she was able to think like this. But she decided to stay in Oracion Seis to undo her Nirvana first before she would return.

Well… it couldn't hurt to do a little mission…

The winds bursted towards the direction of Magnolia and Wendy followed.

Cobra then appeared at an opening of a forest with a giant, purple snake, Cubellios. He sighed.

Angel popped up from the bushes to make a remark, "Erik's so nice~!"

"Shut up," Cobra snapped.

"My bad~ Hehe… I thought Brain specifically asked that Wendy should not hear of this mission until it's completed," Angel licked her lips. "And here you are, telling the girl to do the mission."

"It's nothing," he sighed in annoyance.

"Did you get soft when you found out that tiny part of her thought of you as a big brother?"

"She thinks every male, elder dragonslayer is a big brother."

"Cubellios could get jealous~" Angel chuckled.

"Shut up. Cubellios is better than that."

"Hssssssst~" Cubellios hissed and nuzzled Cobra.

"Hey! You're not making it easier for me to prove my point!"

Angel laughed as she faced towards the sky.

"Brain's going to get mad."

* * *

 **~Fairy Tail~**

Rain started pelting down onto the town of Magnolia.

"Ha… you almost provoked me enough to listen to you. No, if I used Fairy Law right now, then what would be the point of this whole battle? Hahaha," Laxus grinned. "You have an hour and a half left until the women crumble to death..." His face flashed evilly, and he vanished.

"..." Natsu was upset that the battle couldn't have ended just there.

"IDIOT!" Makarov shook Natsu in rage, "That could of ended apocalyptically!"

"I'm telling you! Nothing would have happened," Natsu snorted.

Still stuck withing the empty floor of his guild, the old man gave up, he was too tired and old to argue with youth.

Natsu perked his head up as if he just remembered something important. "Oh, by the way Gramps, unfortunately you're going to have a heart attack later, so be prepared. Okay?"

"THE HELL?"

"Calm down, calm down! We might be able to avert this crisis if you just calmed down! Here, I'll take all that stress from you so just sit back and relax unless you really want a bad heart attack," Natsu deadpanned. "If you keep shouting, you're going to go into your demise faster from stress.

"Why are you being so calm about this?"

"I don't need you causing panic for everyone, it's be so annoying if you collapsed on me right now."

".. Sure enough." Makarov closed his mouth, his eyes stared at Natsu in awe. "I'll take your offer then. I'll believe in you, _Salamander_."

"Okay then!" Natsu puffed his cheeks as he took the lead, "GAJEEL COME OUT!"

Loud crunching and clattering sounded from the bar, Gajeel popped his head up with several iron utensils crunched in his mouth. "What do you want?"

"Gajeel?" Makarov gasped. He thought that only Natsu and himself were left in the building.

"He was there the whole time eating tableware. I guess he was sulking from his previous defeat by a certain old woman."

"Hey!" Gajeel growled, memories from the day before jumped back into his mind.

"My bad."

"Let me guess, you guys want me to defeat that guy for you? That's good, I've got a bone to pick with that guy anyway… leave it to me. Let me redeem myself."

Hope shined onto Makarov. "He might have the cha-"

"Unfortunately, Gajeel will also be useless," Natsu pointed out.

"How so?" Makarov asked.

"That."

"Ahh…" Gajeel groaned. He hit the invisible wall. "Th.. THE HELL IS THIS?"

He kept trying to push through this invisible barrier but was unsuccessful.

 **Rules surrounding the guild: Those above the age of 80, and stone statues, may not pass.**

"WHAT?" Makarov screeched.

Natsu laughed. "You should respect Gajeel, he's your elder now."

Gajeel growled as he tried punching through the invisible wall. "There's no way I can be over 80! I wish I had my memories to explain this," his eyes darted to Natsu. "Salamander! Explain this!"

"Sorry, my lips are somewhat sealed," Natsu grinned. Natsu still had questions like how Gajeel could get out but not him but he decided to think on it later. Maybe it really was the age reversing spell...

 _ ***Click***_

 **Only two remain**

Makarov looked over to the two people behind him. "DON'T TELL ME IT'S JUST THESE TWO LEFT?!"

"Why can't I get out..?" Gajeel groaned.

"Don't worry, this is about the time when I start improvising!" Natsu smirked. "Plus, in Gajeel's state right now, he's probably as useless as me!"

"Hey!" Veins popped on Gajeel's head.

"Sorry, it's just… you're weak as crap right now, like me! But it wasn't I who lost to that old woman."

"Grr…"

"Natsu!" Makarov facepalmed. "What about this fake memories of yours? What happens next?"

"Hmm… I don't know."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW? YOU'VE BASICALLY GOT A PREMONITION SKILL SO HOW DO WE WIN?"

"I told you, it's not a premonition skill! Like I said, the circumstances and our situations are different. Like in the dream, I'm in my normal form and I could use magic. But even then, I, like Gajeel, would not be able to pass the invisible wall. And plus, it's not like I get a whole vision, I just know that Laxus will not actually kill us all. I think, since the circumstances are completely different in reality..."

"That doesn't make much sense but you're saying we might actually lose."

"My ability isn't absolute. I just learn facts from it, like you should really calm down before you get a heart attack."

"This is the end…" Makarov moped.

"No, that's why I said that we would improvise. Look, there's just one other person here. I just have to find him in the rubble of all this mess." Natsu stepped around the building. "Ah, there he is."

He pointed at a body lying on the floor. "Jellal! Wake up!"

Said man wobbly stood up, his whole face was covered in blood. Probably blood from his nosebleed earlier ago.

"He was still here? I thought he fled already," Gajeel commented.

Makarov exclaimed, "Oh right! Now that he's recovered, he could be able to beat-"

"No," Natsu said.

"What now? Don't tell me he can't get through the wall too."

"It's not that. This guy will fetch Porlyusica for us. It should be easy since he's not part of Fairy Tail so he should not be able to activate any runes, in theory," Natsu explained. "Now Jellal, go fetch that mean old lady for us!"

"Uh… okay." And he was off.

"Oh, and when he comes back, we'll be able to free the girls and stop this nonsense," Makarov smiled.

"Wrong again, gramps. Time's running out, we need to defeat Evergreen now."

"Then why'd you ask that brat to get Porlyusica if we were going to undo the spell before he even came back?"

"There are many other people who need help other than the girls. Gramps, stop asking questions and use your brain for once. So..." he sighed and slumped down onto a chair. "Why don't you just launch out Lumen Histoire? That'd make everything so much easier and faster to deal with…"

"You even know of that?" Makarov gasped. This boy with his knowledge and abilities are a force not to be reckoned with… "That's an absolute n-"

 _*Crack*_

The three turned around to face the source of the sound. It was Erza's statue, and it was cracking.

"WHAT!" Makarov and Gajeel went over to the stone statue of Erza and tried to put the peeling off pieces back together. "What's happening!"

Question marks rose above Natsu's head. Yep, he had no idea what else was going to happen from here on out.

"Ah!" Makarov panicked, the cracking noises grew. "She's gonna die!"

"We need glue!" Gajeel shouted.

 _*Crack* *Crack* *CRACK*_

And there Erza was, sitting down, back to normal.

"Wh- what's the meaning of this?" Makarov breathed.

"I -I don't know. I think it might have something to do with my right eye…"

"Of course! Your artificial eye. Good, do you know what's going on?"

"Yeah… I could hear everything," Erza said as she looked at the other girls who were turned to stone.

Makarov clenched his fist with hope shining down onto him. "We can do this! It's time to strike back!"

 _ ***Click***_

 **Three combatants remaining**

"And now that I'm back in action, the remaining combatants have changed as well… Clever little setup."

"So that's three people - Natsu, Gajeel, and Erza," Makarov said.

 _ ***Click***_

 **Four combatants remaining**

"It went up…" Gajeel murmured.

"Who?" Natsu stared up, wondering who exactly it could be.

"Everyone's still frozen solid, so who…?"

Erza smiled, "It looks like that man has decided to take part in this battle…"

"Mystogan…" Makarov breathed a smile. Natsu remembered that name. _Wasn't that the guy who looked a lot like Jellal?_

"I'm out!" Erza cheered as she dashed out the building. She requipped an umbrella into her hand because of the rain.

"Good luck!"

"I'm going to go too!" Natsu announced.

"What? Wait, what are you planning to do now?" Makarov grabbed Natsu just before he stepped out of the building.

"I'm going to scout. When the other girls break out of the stone, I can tell you the locations of all our enemies."

"It's too dangerous!" the old man refused. "I refuse to let you do this!"

"First, I don't listen to old people!" Natsu tried to pry himself away from Makarov's graso. "Don't worry! I'll be extra careful! Plus, being independent is part of acting like an adult so maybe I can return back to my normal form by acting independent."

"I don't think it works like that and even then, this is a death wish!"

"Old man, just let him go," Gajeel said. "He's the _Salamander,_ he can take care of himself no matter what circumstance he's in. Plus, when I can get out of this wall, he can tell me where exactly the boss is waiting at."

Natsu snorted. Yeah sure... He bet that Gajeel would be one-shotted.

"Yes, but he's completely defenseless."

"I'll be fine! I'll be _extra, extra careful_ ," Natsu smiled.

Makarov sighed and he let Natsu go.

Natsu stepped out of the building. He was about to dash off after Erza, but he heard more runes writing itself on the invisible barrier behind him so he stopped himself.

 _ ***Click***_

 **Fairy Tail Battle Progress Report:**

"Already? That was so quick?" Makarov said.

 **Mystogan vs Mystogan**

"WHAT?" Makarov exclaimed, "Why is Mystogan fighting against himself?"

"Is that even possible?" Gajeel wondered.

Natsu sweat-dropped. "Did the game break already?"

"Oh wait, there's more runes," Gajeel said.

 **Erza vs Evergreen…**

"Looks like Erza's starting her battle," Natsu stated. The runes still kept writing to add to the battle written above.

 **... vs Bickslow vs Freed**

"Woah, it's a Battle Royale," Gajeel said.

"No, it's going to be a 3 vs 1. The Raijinshuu vs Erza! That's completely unfair!" Makarov shouted.

More runes appeared on the invisible wall.

 **Laxus vs…**

"Laxus is fighting someone? But there's no one else, right?" Gajeel wondered.

 **...Natsu**

"Me?" Natsu pointed at himself, dumbfounded. "So much for me being extra, extra careful."

"He's battling Natsu? But Natsu's right in front of the building- he's literally right in front of us!" the old man exclaimed in fear.

Gajeel growled, "Man, I wanted to fight that lightning bastard."

Natsu turned away from the invisible barrier to find Laxus standing a few meters away from him.

"Yo," Laxus grinned devilishly.

"Uh… hi…" Natsu nervously waved his hand. "It looks like I didn't have to scout at all…"

"Instead of using Fairy Law, I've decided to bring down my own kind of judgement right here and now. Plus it would hurt the old man so much to watch one of his brats fall in front of him." Electricity exploded from his body. The electricity bounced and traveled through the raindrops. Natsu was probably doomed since the whole area was drenched with rainwater. Damn Laxus for attacking when it was raining.

"NATSU! GET OUT OF THERE!" Makarov screamed, pounding on the invisible wall.

"Salamander! Tag me in! I want to fight!" Gajeel yelled.

Natsu tried to run away but he was blocked by an invisible barrier.

 **Rule: Only the strongest of mages trapped within here may leave.**

"This barrier actually thinks of me as a mage even when I can't use magic right now?" Natsu banged his head on the barrier only for his head to bounce back from the barrier with his forehead bleeding. Not a good move to do when in a dangerous situation and all he had was his brains.

"Oi, don't try to think about running now. Not like you can," Laxus teased.

"Oh great, you're actually serious this time," Natsu sweated as he turned back to face Laxus. He had a horrible feeling in his gut: fear. It would probably be normal to feel fear in a situation like this, but Natsu hated the feeling. He clenched his gut and shook.

"Oh?" Laxus raised an eyebrow. "Don't tell me you're scared. Where'd all the confident bark from before go? Hmmm."

"It seems like you're the kind of person who doesn't mind beating up children," Natsu retorted.

"Do you want to die faster?" Laxus growled, "Because it seems to me that you don't care how I kill you."

Natsu gulped. The only thing he has right now in this form was his brains and agility. While he did think he could somehow outsmart Laxus for whatever reason, he did not think he could outrun lightning.

"Here, I'll help you get to the afterlife!" Laxus lunged with a fist bursting with electricity. Dark gray clouds rushed above them, lightning was visible, shooting everywhere in the clouds.

All at once Natsu would be hit with an electric fist and the lightning from the clouds.

The only thing he could do was… nope, he had no more tricks up his sleeve left. Now would be a convenient time to change back to his original form. No... the world can't be that convenient. Instead, now would be a great time to have his ass saved by some random over-powered person. His chances of that were low too.

"NATSU!" Makarov screeched until he ran out of breath. He froze, something was wrong. He felt like time was getting slower for him. His whole body started sweating, his chest was burning, his heartbeat sounded louder than ever. His mind spun and spun. ' _Is this the heart attack Natsu was talking about?'_ Without warning, the old man collapsed.

Gajeel turned to the guild master. "Hey old man? Are you okay?" Gajeel crouched down and checked Makarov's pulse on his chest.

A bright light engulfed them all.

The lightning finally struck.

 **Four Battle Combatants Remaining**

 _ ***Click***_

 **Battle of Fairy Tail Progress Report:**

 **Mystogan vs Mystogan**

 **Erza vs Evergreen vs Bickslow vs Freed**

 **Laxus vs Natsu**

…

 _ ***Click***_

 **One Battle contestant remaining  
**

* * *

 **Hehe... thank you reviewers. It kind of is stressful keeping the balance of what I want to write and what you guys would want. To bad I was too blind to see that all my reviewers are being patient and supportive and saying how much they like this story. No one's complaining about how or what I write, so thank you guys. That's a load of stress -that I unintentionally put on myself- off my mind. Well, I have to go back to school soon so... stress of off for only a little while. I probably wouldn't have written up to 22 chapters without you guys. You know... just one sentence can have a lot of impact on people. (By the way, you guys are funny too -that's meant as a compliment).  
**

 **Wow... this is a lot of bold print. I purposely made the chapter end like that so I could drive myself into writer's block because I need to take a break from writing, it didn't work XD You guys are lucky, if I wasn't incompetent enough to not know how to get writer's block in this story then the next chapter update would probably be next month. I suppose I'm lucky too... If only I didn't have such a lazy characteristic! I suppose I could just force myself to 'stop' writing. Meh, I like this story. Not going to stop for a reason like that. [Update]: Scratch that, I'm too busy playing vid- I mean doing homework so I probably won't update soon... Whoops** **(￣▽￣)/**

 **Next chapter is going to have tons of exaggerated research and nonsense. Thank goodness I took Health and Physics class. Maybe that's a little hint for what crazy, convenient thing might happen next chapter. :P**

 **Now I feel so happy. I hope you all have a happy day. If not, I'll try to spread my contagious happiness to you all, muahahaha. Yes... be happy... it's good for you XD**

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Review if you want to!**

 **To be continued!**


	23. The Interruptions

**Chapter 23**

 **The Interruptions**

 **~~~Magnolia Shopping District~~~**

"Freed! What's going on? When did you put a rune barrier over this place?" Evergreen yelled, she tried to move her body. She was stiff.

"These aren't my runes, can't you tell these runes aren't the usual color purple?" Freed said, uneasy about all this. It meant there was another rune user in the town.

 **Rule: Any mage trapped here will not be able to move and use magic.**

"This is not fun," Bickslow said. "My poor babies can't move."

In the distance, Freed saw a certain red-haired female rushing towards them.

"Found you!" Erza yelled, requipping a sword into her hand as she was preparing a war cry.

"No, Erza! Don't come over here!" Freed warned. Unfortunately, the knight did not listen.

"Rahhh!" Erza dashed to Evergreen and swung her sword. "Turn the girls back to norma- huh?" She noticed her body could not move to her will any longer. She took a glance at the runes. "Freed? What is the meaning of this rule?"

"I wasn't the one who created this barrier," Freed informed her.

"Then who-"

Someone made their presence behind Erza. The female knight couldn't exactly turn around so she couldn't really see the figure behind her.

"Who are you?" Evergreen growled. She was looking at a hooded figure. A flying cat suddenly landed on the hooded figure.

"I'm so sorry guys," said the cat.

Erza recognized that voice. "Carla? What's going on here?"

"Erza, it's probably best if you didn't know," her voice sounded so sad, so regretful.

Erza suddenly found herself mobile again, same with the Raijinshuu. She quickly turned around to face the culprit. The face was covered by the hood, she was unable to identify who it was. "Carla, you should stop whatever you're doing. It's already enough that Fairy Tail has to deal with Laxus and the Raijinshuu."

"So sorry…"

"Carla!" Erza yelled again.

The figure raised its hand.

"Wh- what are you doing?" Evergreen shouted.

The figure twiddled its fingers and the rules on the invisible barrier was replaced with new rules.

 **Rule: Any mage trapped here will self-destruct**

"What?" Bickslow exclaimed.

"This isn't a rule, it's a command!" Freed grit his teeth.

Suddenly, each of their bodies started moving without will.

"Carla!" Erza bellowed as she pointed the sword in her hand towards her chest. She struggled but it was no use, her own hand drove the sword straight to her chest, just as the runes had commanded. The blood splattered everywhere and she collapsed to her knees.

The Raijinshuu stared in disbelief as they watched Erza just thrust a sword into herself.

They too, unwillingly followed the rule to ' _self-destruct'_.

...

Carla sadly gazed at the limp bodies of the four. She leaned on the hooded figure's ear. "We got what we wanted… So could you do me a favor?" she asked.

When they walked away from the scene, the runes on the invisible barrier changed.

 **Any mage lying in this Barrier are NOT able to die**

* * *

 **~~~Magnolia Food District~~~**

Jellal rushed through crowds and more crowds of townspeople towards the forest where Porlyusica's house was. On his way, he noticed a great number of buildings were destroyed and about all the defeated Fairy Tail members were lying on the ground, beaten and unconscious.

He finally reached an opening in the crowd to take a breather. He then rushed forward, but he was stopped by an invisible barrier. "Ah!"

He bounced back to the ground. He rubbed his head and looked up at the writing on the barrier.

 **Only the strongest of mages trapped here may leave**

"What? But I'm not a Fairy Tail mage!" Jellal shouted at the wall. Maybe it affected all battle mages, not just Fairy Tail mages. Maybe. He looked around his surroundings to find whoever his opponent was. A figure, about the same size as himself, wore a dark blue cloak and bandages were wrapped all around his limbs. He wore a dark blue bandana on his head with a silver forehead protector. His bottom half of his face was obscured by a green mask.

Jellal quickly rose to a defensive position. "Who are you?"

The heavily covered man stepped forward. "My name is Mystogan. I do not plan to fight you."

"Really?" Jellal sighed in relief. "Then how do we get out of here?"

The rain pelted down them, and the harsh winds certainly did not make the weather feel better. At this time, most of the townsfolk fled indoors.

It was just two of them, trapped outside because of this rune barrier. Mystogan took a staff and aimed it to one side of the invisible barrier. Perhaps he was going to try to dispel the barrier.

Meanwhile, Jellal stared at the angry nimbus clouds that loomed over the whole town. He noticed how lightning was striking specifically near the Fairy Tail guild. The winds and air pressure, however, were more powerful in this area. There was no doubt that Laxus was at the guild. And there was a possibility that a wind mage was in their range.

The barriers that surrounded them seemed to shatter like glass. It looked like Mystogan succeeded in breaking the barrier somehow. A wave of relief washed over them until they heard a spell.

" **Sky Dragon's Roar** ," a quiet voice was heard despite the noisy weather. A gigantic tornado blast aimed for Mystogan but fortunately he dodged in time. Mystogan and Jellal both turned their heads to the attention of the voice. There, on top of a cake shop building, stood a small, blue haired girl. Yep… a wind mage in their range.

Jellal recognized her immediately as the girl he met after the Tower of Heaven.

"I finally found you, Jella- huh?" she ended the sentence with a tone of confusion. Jellal quickly realized the source of that confusion.

He looked over to Mystogan to see if he was okay. Everything was not okay. It appeared that the winds from the attack had blown away Mystogan's mask and bandana. His face was exposed for everyone to see. He had the same face as Jellal.

"Eh- What?!" Jellal shouted in shock. He probably knew how Erza felt when she faced off her doppelgänger.

"There are _two_ Jellal's?" the girl could no longer hide the confusion on her face.

The wind abruptly halted too, as if the clouds themselves were confused too.

A moment of silence.

Mystogan had an embarrassed expression as he casually put the mask and bandana back on.

"You can't expect me to forget your face now that I've seen it!" Jellal exclaimed.

"Agreed," the girl said as she controlled the winds to shred the mask to pieces.

"Wendy…" Mystogan muttered as he glared at the girl.

Jellal guessed that was her name, especially when Gajeel thought that was her name when he first mentioned a blue haired girl yesterday.

* * *

Those two guys looked exactly the same, the only difference was their clothes but that couldn't really tell anything. Wendy's mission was to capture Jellal, but which one?

A large wind gust swept through the town, forcing most of the precipitation to flood the town. In all the confusion, Wendy snatched the Jellal who wore the mask and she dug a dagger in his chest. It happened so fast so Mystogan couldn't retaliate and showed little sign of resistance. Wendy smirked as she carried him off towards the base.

She was sure this was the one. It's not like anyone told her there were two Jellals.

* * *

The Jellal who was left behind was left awfully confused. In the whole mess with the heavy rain and wind, he couldn't see a thing. Now that the wind calmed down, he could not see a sign of Mystogan or Wendy. He first shrugged, then dashed off to Porlyisica's house.

* * *

 **~~~ Fairy Tail Guild Entrance ~~~**

It all happened in slow motion. Just as Laxus' punch and the lightning strike closed in on him, Natsu instinctively ducked and closed his eyes, as if that'd do anything. It did a lot. The lightning suddenly turned away from the ground and directed itself horizontally just above his head towards the guild. The electricity that surged in the water followed the lightning towards the guild. The lightning from Laxus' punch also escaped from his fist and zoomed towards the guild. The lightning redirecting itself made Laxus lose balance and completely miss Natsu.

Natsu opened his eyes when he heard something getting electrocuted, and it wasn't himself. He saw in a bright light that all the electricity that Laxus and the weather produced all struck Gajeel. It seemed that Gajeel transformed his arm into an iron pole to act as a lightning rod which would explain why all the electricity would hit him. To make things worse for Gajeel, there was a lot of electricity, he might as well be a fried human when all the electricity was traveled from his body to the ground.

It also looked like that as he was holding up his lightning rod arm, Gajeel had crouched over to check Makarov's chest. What a horrible mistake, that would mean that some of the electricity would travel from Gajeel's body to Makarov's body. That looked unfortunate for the old man.

"AAAAAAAARRRRRRRHHHHH!"

Their screams were not unheard.

"Hey!" Natsu yelled as all the electricity seemed to finally leave their bodies for four whole seconds. They looked burned to a crisp. Once all the electricity was absorbed from their bodies to the ground, Natsu was surprised to hear them still breathing.

He noticed how the progress report on the barrier thing changed.

 **One Battle Combatant Remaining**

Natsu narrowed his eyes, didn't that mean that Erza and Mystogan are also out of battle? Wait, that meant he was the only battle combatant left. Well shit, Fairy Tail lost. Unless Laxus was going to get hit by a meteor, they lost. However, when the message was shot up, the runes suddenly shattered. The barrier surrounding the guild and the battlefield with Natsu and Laxus inside had disappeared.

He looked back at Laxus and he was unsure if the lightning mage was angry or laughing hysterically.

Laxus may have just lost his mind.

Natsu was sure he was going to lose his own life if this would continue.

Just as Laxus seemed to be starting to have another electrical outburst, Natsu held his hands up and yelled, "WAIT!"

Miraculously, the electricity surrounding Laxus seemed to calm down, which meant Laxus may somewhat listen to what he has to say.

Natsu knew he couldn't physically beat Laxus right now, but he could beat him at something else: mind games. Natsu sucked at mind games but he was sure he could probably beat a hothead like Laxus any day. Well, Natsu just had to do anything to stall from getting beat to a pulp.

Proof of how Natsu was horrible at mind games: What he was about to say right now.

"Laxus..." Natsu breathed deeply. "Makarov… just died." It was obviously a lie, but Natsu was hoping that Laxus was too enraged to even think properly.

"You're bluffing."

It was a predictable answer, but Natsu's job was to persuade Laxus so he would think he finally won. This plan would stall for until a Fairy Tail member could get here and knock Laxus out by surprise. This was perhaps the worst plan ever, perhaps there was even a higher probability of a meteor striking down Laxus than the success of this plan.

"Well, you just electrocuted an old man with heart problems, I don't know about you, but if I were an old man with heart problems, I would've kicked the bucket by then."

"The old man is too stubborn to die."

"You can go check yourself, but I can't hear his heart beating even with my dragon slayer senses."

Laxus shrugged for a second, then smirked and electrical sparks flew everywhere. Suddenly, in a flash of lightning, Natsu found his back against the ground and Laxus' foot was pressing on his chest.

"Well… shit," Natsu sighed as he knew his plan already failed.

"I heard rumors about you… How you can't use your magic right now because you were turned into a kid. No magic means to dragon slayer abilities for you, which means you're bluffing."

"Hey, at least I stalled you for a second," Natsu smiled.

"What's a second got-"

" **Ice-Make: Rosen Krone!** "

" **Solid Script: Boulder!** "

" **Satan Soul!** "

" **Gate of the lion, Leo!** "

" **Guns Magic: Stinger Shot!** "

" **Water Slicer!** "

" **Shuriken Cards!** "

Laxus froze in surprise as all the magic attacks directly hit and managed to blow him away. At the guild entrance stood Ultear, Levy, Lucy, Bisca, Juvia, and Cana. In front of Natsu stood Mira and Loke who had to use their attacks close ranged on Laxus. All the girls had finally broken out of the stone.

Natsu sighed in relief. "Thank goodness. One more second and I would have died."

"Maybe we should've waited one more second then," Ultear smiled.

"Shut it," Natsu smiled. "It seems like Laxus isn't done yet."

Everyone held their offensive positions as they watched the lightning mage stand again.

The real battle would start now.

As lightning rained down and various magics counterattacked, Natsu crawled over to the safe haven which was the guild. It seemed somewhere along the way, the rain at ceased raining.

He reached over to check Makarov's pulse, to see if the old man actually survived the electrocution. He felt a quiet, but steady heartbeat… good. Natsu didn't bother checking Gajeel's pulse because he knew that the ironhead would surely not die like this. Finally, Natsu took this chance to sit back and relax.

Right now, there was a large battle happening between Fairy Tail and Laxus. Fortunately, it seemed like Fairy Tail was slightly winning. Laxus was strong in his own right, he could probably wipe the floor with seven normal opponents. But with his focus mostly on Mira and Loke, he could just barely dodge all the other attacks from the other mages. Now if only a meteor would land on Laxus… And Natsu was surprised, he had no idea Mirajane was capable of being so strong and slightly scary. He thought she was just a barmaid.

Although, after all he had been through, Natsu couldn't help but feel a bit disappointed. All the battles he had encountered so far, always involved himself fighting and ending in a convenient or amazing explosion. But he couldn't fight in this battle, he was useless here. And this battle was going to end until one party is unable to fight anymore, which was going to take a while. This battle was going to be long, like war.

He clenched his chest, it was like his heart tightened at the thought of war and uselessness. Perhaps this was his ability telling him in the future there may be a time of war and the feeling of uselessness? Well, whatever it was, this battle happening now was going to be boring, it would've been nice to get a shot at punching Laxus and that arrogant face.

Natsu sighed once more, he hoped all the others were okay.

* * *

 **~~~Three Hours Later~~~**

Gray awoke, the first thing he saw were clear blue skies. He sat up and found himself in the alley where he got beat up by Bixlow. He scowled, that's right, the battle festival was still going on, he had to get back on his feet right away to retaliate. As soon as he stood on his own two feet, he felt an aching pain in his abdomen area. Perhaps he had broken a rib or two? Forget that, he would give his body and soul to help Fairy Tail.

As he finally managed to get near the entrance of Fairy Tail, he saw a lot of rune knights flooding the inside of the guild. He also saw the dancing figures of the girls of Fairy Tail. It wasn't long when his and Juvia's eyes met. The blue haired girl smiled and dashed to hug him, in Gray's discomfort.

"Gray-sama! You're okay!"

"U-uh… Yeah," he felt more of his ribs breaking. "Why are all of you dancing around like idiots?"

"It's because we won! We finally beat Laxus!" Juvia gave him a full run down of the battle that just ended half an hour ago.

"You guys beat Laxus on your own?" Gray was astonished… until he saw Mira. "Oh, that's why."

Before Gray would be suffocated by Juvia's undying love, he asked, "So where's Laxus right now?"

Juvia pointed to the guild hall, "The master is having a rough talk with him inside."

"What's with the bunch of Rune Knights inside?"

"Juvia does not know the answer to that question. But if you want, I can force some information out of one of them, just for you."

"Uh… no thanks."

"Okay," Juvia smiled.

He nodded and tried to pry Juvia's fingers off of him. It worked and Juvia continued her victory dance with the other girls.

Gray spotted the two dragon slayers who were sitting and chatting behind the guild building in the shadows. He approached them and said, "I heard you made the girls do all the tough work in battling Laxus."

"Hey, I was already useless in the first place! No one could expect much from me anyway," Natsu pouted.

"And I saved this guy's ass. I think I deserve some credit," Gajeel commented with a snarl.

"Haha, whatever," Gray seated himself next to them. "So what were you talking about?"

"Nothing much, I was just talking about Wendy," Natsu said.

"You mean that friend of yours from six or seven years ago?" Gray wondered.

"Yeah, I thought that maybe this jog Gajeel's memory."

"But it didn't," Gajeel growled.

"It's not my fault."

"Is it not? Maybe you have to explain everything with more details. And maybe you're lying, the Wendy you speak of is completely different from the one I encountered!"

Natsu shrugged, "People change."

"Not that much!"

"Have you ever heard of 'brainwash'? Maybe someone brainwashed her or something," Natsu retorted, however he already figured out the whole situation with Wendy now. Maybe when he turned back to normal, he would storm Oracion Seis and reverse Nirvana on the poor girl. It sounded like a legit plan.

"I don't think brainwash exists," Gray said.

"Maybe someone has a magic like that."

"How lame," Gajeel said. "Who would waste their time learning a magic like that?"

"How about hypnotism?" Natsu said, brimming with idioticness.

"As if that works," Gajeel rolled his eyes.

"Oh? Should I try it on you?" Natsu smirked. "Or maybe that'll finally get some memories out of you."

"That's ridicu-" he stopped mid-sentence from seeing the other two slowly turn their heads to him.

"Well, you're always complaining about not having memories, and this IS an option…" Gray said slowly.

"It COULD work…" Natsu said ominously. "Plus, maybe you might remember something about that strange man we encountered at Porlyusica's house."

Gajeel, being desperate to get his memories back, could not say no.

"Then it's decided!" Natsu and Gray cheered.

"What have I gotten myself into?" Gajeel mumbled.

Natsu was about to volunteer to buy a pendulum but was cut short when Makarov stepped out of the guild hall and requested their attention. This also got the attention of the girls.

"As you all know," Makarov started, "There were many who were injured during battle. So, during this time, I would like all of you to escort the injured to the infirmary in the guild or the local hospital while I sort things out with Laxus.

The girls quickly went out to follow Makarov's directions. However, Makarov halted the three boys from leaving. "You three, find Porlyusica to help her with a more serious case."

Porlyusica was inside the guild hall, preparing to leave. The boys waited and followed her when she left.

They seemed to be going to the direction of the shopping district.

"Why does it not feel like we won?" Gray asked. He felt something bad weighing down on his shoulders.

"There's never anything good about winning a civil war," Natsu replied. "There are many injured, friendships are broken. Even after you win, you don't actually win."

"Why do you sound like you have lots of experience in civil wars?" Gajeel asked. Natsu glared at him. He retracted his statement, "Nevermind."

Natsu sighed, "It's not like I actually have experience in war. I just know war is never good."

"I never thought I'd hear that from a former dark mage," Gray snickered.

"... Shut up."

As they arrived at their destination, fear struck them all from the sight.

There was a lot of blood.

There were four bodies.

Erza and the Raijinshuu.

Gray's feet were stuck in place, he could only quietly utter, "Are they alive?"

"Surprisingly, yes," Porlyusica muttered. "It's probably all thanks to this barrier." She pointed to the runes floating on the invisible wall.

 **Any mage lying in this Barrier are NOT able to die**

"And this barrier is actually working?" Natsu gasped. This is beyond anything he had ever encountered before. If this really was some kind of rune magic, then it's a really powerful one. Instead of it being a rule, it's like commanding you to do something. In this case, it's commanding the people inside the barrier to not die.

"Can you save them?" Gray's voice was tense. He had never thought the battle would ever go this far. This was… a bit more violent than he expected.

"Yes… But since it appears that I can't move these bodies out of the barrier, and this barrier may disappear at any moment, I need you to fetch all the supplies at my house for me. Got it?"

Gajeel and Gray nodded as they quickly hurried to her house.

Natsu, however, was held back by Porlyusica. "You, I need a little private talk with you," she said darkly.

Natsu furrowed his eyebrows. "And what would you want to talk about?"

"Your memories."

Natsu faked a confused tone. "What do you mean about my memories? I totally remember everything about myself." He failed at this lie.

"From an earlier inspection, I had noticed there was something wrong with your memories. Unlike Gajeel's memories, your memories aren't sealed. They are more like shattered, but trying to piece each other back into one piece. It's like one of those side-effects of using a forbidden spell. Tell me, have you ever used any forbidden spells?"

Natsu sweat-dropped, he used countless types of forbidden spells back when he worked in Grimoire Heart. "Many," he said.

" _Fake memories,_ you called it? Makarov told me about this special ability you have," Porlyusica stated as she started treating the patients with what little medical supplies she had.

Natsu's eyes narrowed, "What do you know of this ability?" He literally only told Makarov about it a few hours ago, how could he spread information like this so quickly?

"Well, for starters, I've never heard of such an ability. Only premonition comes close but it isn't what you have. But what I can tell you is that these _fake memories_ of yours are not necessarily _fake_."

"What are you talking about? And how did you deduce this from just one inspection?" he quietly praised the old woman's talents for finding out about what was wrong with him so quickly.

"You've been over at my house for many times, and you needed to be treated for all of those times. It wasn't just one inspection."

"Oh."

"Well, this fake memories thing isn't only affecting you. I feel like deep inside, we all have some sort of fake memory. Though it only starts with you."

"Uh… explain," Natsu couldn't wrap his head around her words.

Porlyusica sighed. "Did you know you sometimes talk in your sleep. Once I overheard you talking and I couldn't help but find myself intrigued by this little peculiar story you were muttering about. It was a story of the battle between Fairy Tail and Phantom Lord. Battles aren't really my thing, but you said something about Makarov getting all his magic drained away from him and he was rushed to me so he would be treated. I at first chuckled, because Makarov never had to be treated by me during that time so I thought you were just having some weird dreams. But then I suddenly thought, _did that really happen?_ I found my mind in a state of extreme confusion because I knew what you said had never happened. But there was some force in the back of my head telling me that it did happen. I remembered something that happened, that never happened - a fake memory you call it."

Natsu understood. "What do you think of these fake memories then?"

"It's too unknown for me to reach any other conclusions. Many questions fill my head, but I feel like there is something real behind your _fake memories._ "

"You aren't wrong," Natsu nodded. "But it looks like you'll just have to sit and watch as things unfold."

"How about you?"

"I'm going to make these fake memories unfold, since it appears as though I'm directly connected to them. Oh, but what happened with Jellal?" Natsu decided to change the subject.

"I don't know. When he came to me and escorted me to Fairy Tail, a rune mage suddenly came and talked to Jellal. Jellal told me to go ahead and then we parted ways."

Natsu bit his lip. "This can't be good. There was also a big amount of rune knights in the guild too."

"I see… well, it looks like we have to get back to work, those two have come back with more than enough medical supplies."

Natsu nodded as Gray and Gajeel sped up to their location with at least five baskets full of medical supplies in their hands. They rushed and panicked about the state of Erza and the others. They panicked so hard that they ended up doing twice the amount of work. A third man like Natsu was unneeded to help.

Natsu quickly walked away from the scene and wondered what he was going to do now. He thought back on the conversation he just had with Porlyusica. There's something real behind these fake memories and it doesn't only affect him. He recalled what happened with Gray when he told the 'Changeling' story. There was definitely something strange going on.

He sighed at how complicated his life just turned out to be.

Since he was staying at Lucy's apartment for the time being, maybe he could tell her a story from his fake memories to judge her reaction.

He scratched his head as he noticed his clothes started to feel super tight. They literally started shrinking, no he was growing. He finally realized that the spell that Purehito cast on him was finally wearing off… but at the worst time. It wasn't when he was in a dire battle with Laxus, it wasn't when he was alone. No, he was going to revert back to his normal form in public.

To reserve his position as 'most non-noticable person in Magnolia', he stole a few clothes from a nearby store and ran to the bathrooms. He would deal with this act of crime later, but he really didn't want to turn naked in public. He wasn't supposed to be like Gray!

* * *

"Do you miss being in Grimoire Heart?"

This question caught Ultear off guard so hard. She couldn't hide her surprise when she heard the question come out of Lucy's mouth. "What do you mean? Well, I know what you mean but why did you ask so suddenly?"

The two girls were finally done escorting the injured to the hospital and were now on their way to the guild.

Lucy studied Ultear's face a bit. "Why are you acting flustered?"

Ultear felt a stab through her chest. Just talking to this girl ruins her reputation of being calm and collective.

"Ah! So Natsu was right! You're one of those types who have a hard surface but a soft heart!" Lucy pounded her fist in satisfaction.

"It's not what you think. I'm just going through some life problems right now. I mean, it's not like you've had to leave a guild that you've been in for so long without saying goodbye!"

"I thought you didn't like the guild in the first place?" Lucy tilted her head in confusion. This 'Ultear' character was sometimes hard to understand.

"Why would you assume I didn't like the guild?" Ultear asked.

"There would be no other reason to leave a guild than the fact that you don't like it. Well, there's always the possibility that you left for some other personal reason. But I'm guessing you're leaning towards the former."

Ultear quieted down. "No… It's just that there was this guildmate I was a bit close to… I feel like I abandoned her."

"I see…"

Ultear looked at Lucy for a bit. There was no sign that she was going to speak more. "Aren't you going to say anything?"

"What? I'm not a therapist," Lucy chuckled.

"From the way you spoke, I was sure you had some wise words to pass on to me," Ultear said.

"I was just curious. That's all," Lucy deadpanned. "If I did have to give you some advice, I'd say that right now you're on the path to finding yourself. I bet you were so fixated on some goal that you forgot to look at yourself. Maybe you should look at a mirror and ask yourself who you are."

"Ah… there it is," Ultear ignored what Lucy said and pointed at the guild building that was so near. "Looks like the people with small injuries are there too, let's go."

Lucy sighed, she didn't know former dark mages were so hard to deal with.

The fast walked towards the guild until they noticed a big army of rune knights settled just outside of Fairy Tail.

* * *

"Nggghhhh…"

Erza felt like her mind was going to explode. Everything hurt, she could barely use any of her five senses. It was like she was being tortured by the air around her. It was then that she remembered the events that happened up until now.

"Carla!" she gasped as she suddenly sat up, knocking two objects out of the way with her head.

"Ow!" Two voices groaned in slight pain.

Erza opened her eyes, to notice that she had just hit Gray and Gajeel with her head.

"Looks like Erza's okay," Gray muttered in a tone of relief.

"I'm alive?" she asked as she looked around her surroundings. A figure who she deemed to be Porlyusica was tending to another person. There was dried blood all over the floor. And there were red runes surrounding the area around her.

"Alive and ready to fight again, it seems," Gajeel said as he held his throbbing head.

"Yeah, you should really stop scaring us like that," Gray said. "This is the second time I thought you were dead."

"Oh, sorry."

"No need to apologize! I guess everyone has their near death experiences here and there," Gray sweatdropped.

Erza smiled, "So how are the others?"

"Barely alive, at least thanks to that barrier surrounding us," Gajeel shrugged.

Erza looked at the barrier, red runes spelled 'Any mage lying in this Barrier are NOT able to die'. The way it was written was so eerie looking, and the way it was worded gave off an odd tone.

"I'll explain later," Gray promised. "For now, you should rest and tell us what happened to you guys. From when we found you all, it looked like you all killed yourselves with your own magic or weapon."

Erza shrugged, the memory of what happened was a bit foggy, but she tried her best to explain what occurred before she fell unconscious. About almost fighting the Raijinshuu, then getting caught in a red rune trap, meeting a hooded figure and Carla, then requipping a sword and stabbing herself with it. That explained just about it.

They all had their mouths wide open with surprise, even Porlyusica who was thought to be focusing on healing the rest.

"What a scary magic, being able to command all people within a barrier," Gray commented.

"So Carla was working with dark mages all this time?" Gajeel wondered.

Erza glared at Gajeel. "What do you mean 'all this time'?"

"Er… well, a while ago, I could smell dark magic surrounding Carla. I thought she was up to no good but I didn't want to pry into her business."

A dark aura surrounded Erza.

"W-What?" Gajeel shrugged.

"It's Fairy Tail policy to always invade someone's personal business when it seems like they're up to no good," Gray said. "You should've done something."

Erza requipped a bat.

"What the hell kind of policy is that?" Gajeel shouted.

"I was just kidding," Gray laughed. "Oh, but Erza isn't."

"Prepare to get a beating of your lifetime," she said.

Suddenly a vein popped on Porlyusica's forehead and the old woman yelled, "If you're just going to play around then get out! I don't need to be disrupted from my concentration!"

"Yes Ma'am!" they all shouted in unison and left.

* * *

After getting a good fifty meters away from Porlyusica, Gajeel decided he had had just about enough of the day and declared he would go to the forest and sleep there. Gray and Erza didn't stop him from doing so.

When they split paths, Gajeel quickly found himself in the forest. It was almost night again, so now would be a great time to take a nap then to sleep. He started to climb the tree when he smelled someone behind him. He wasn't fully able to use his dragon slayer abilities to their full potential and that included his sense of smell.

He found a hooded, shadowy figure on the ground. It smelled like the dark magic that coated Carla that one day.

"Who are you?" he said without hesitation.

The figure raised his hood down and showed his face. It was an old man. Clearly younger than Makarov but still old. Maybe he was in his forties or fifties.

"My name is Ivan. Ivan Dreyar," he said with an evil look in his eyes.

"As in Makarov's son?"

"Exactly," Ivan smirked.

Gajeel had a bad feeling. He knew this was what Makarov was talking about Ivan wanting to recruit a spy in Fairy Tail.

"What do you want?" Gajeel voiced his words carefully.

"You see, I've had my eyes on Fairy Tail's secret for a long time, but it had always been too hidden by that guild master. He's too… cautious even around his own son…"

"Get to the point," Gajeel barked.

"Well, one of my spies have just told me that she is unable to spy on Fairy Tail anymore. Nonetheless, she brought excellent results and information on her mission. Specifically regarding the new member named Natsu and his information on a certain something about Fairy Tail's darkness."

Gajeel kept his silence. This female spy that Ivan was talking about was most likely Carla.

"Say… you seem to be non-loyal to Fairy Tail and you also seem to be quite close to this Natsu. Perhaps, you could be my spy and gather any information about Lumen Histoire. I promise you can avenge Phantom Lord if you work with me on this."

Gajeel kept his stare on the maniacal face of Ivan. Just from this meeting, he could tell… that this man is going to be very annoying.

He sighed and carefully acted like he didn't care.

"Sure," Gajeel said. "But do you mean that you have another spy in Fairy Tail?"

Ivan looked up to Gajeel with a scary, big grin.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading :P**

 **I hope you enjoyed. Though, I'm somewhat sorry for how ridiculously long this chapter is. And you have time, slap a review, any positive or negative reviews are helpful.**

 **Oh my gosh, I have to say that this was the hardest chapter I've ever written in this series. It just is.  
**

 **Well... I need your help. Anyone's help. It's about Pantherlily. SPOILER ALERT: I'm not going to write the Edolas Arc. I'm replacing it with something very similar but there won't be any Edolas, sorry. In all honesty, it wasn't exactly my favorite arc. And there's really no point since right now none of the Exceeds are in Fairy Tail right now. (Of course things may change after the Oracion Seis arc). Yeah... And I have no idea how to incorporate Lily into this story without an actual Edolas arc. So help is requested. Sincerely, The Lazy Author of Dragon's Alternative.**

 **P.S. School is really sucking my life dry now. Expect random updates as usual. XD  
**

 **(Also expect some more sloppy writing from here on out)**


	24. Rumors

**Um, pretty important Author's note here... You should probably read it...**

 **I bet most of you don't remember what happened in this story so Chapter 20 is somewhat of a recap for you. It's probably better than reading from the beginning, since there are so many grammar mistakes... (ashamed of myself).**

 **If you simply don't care anymore, there's an unfollow button somewhere. I mean, I have no idea where it is, but it's somewhere XD**

 **Woah, I gues no one expected a chapter since I haven't updated in like... 10 months. The excuse is... well, I didn't really believe in myself so I gave up on this story. Then you wonderful people wrote wonderful things to me to help me continue. I mean, you might not even notice that what you wrote helped me (since some of you wrote like a year ago), but it did. So I'd like to thank you guys.**

 **Special thanks to PointlessKnife, Jalis, Fade from the Light, DdraigTrueEmperor9, Dank Dang, Tobias97, UchihaBrotherhood, Trevor607, Ysyzudu, jajs, SacredSinner, metalican overlord slayer, ScarletRoofs, Tenryu no hoko, albotrossnowflake, person, and Yuna. I don't think anyone would notice, but these are the people who have ever reviewed this story. Kind of shows that I just reread the reviews and found myself re-inspired.**

 **Well, to those who will continue to join me on this journey, umm... enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter 24**

 **Rumors**

Most Fairy Tail members had stayed in clinics or in the guild building to rest from their most recent incident. An incident where they were all fought, broke, then apologized to each other. Laxus had almost torn this guild apart. The guild was saved from being forced apart. However, rune knights at surrounded the guild, threatening almost exactly what Laxus had threatened the day before.

"From breaking this rule, I feel I should have Fairy Tail disbanded," said the voice of the leader of the rune knights. There were murmurs of agreements throughout the crowd of rune knights while there were shouts of refusal from Fairy Tail members.

"We didn't break any rule." That was Makarov's voice.

"The law under section 257 states that no guild shall house any criminal. Obviously, from the looks of it. You have housed and protected the criminal Jellal Fernandes here in Fairy Tail," said the leader of the Rune Knights.

Erza and Gray had just arrived to the guild to find this commotion. They decided to listen to the rune knight's announcement from outside the guild building, even though this announcement was for all to hear.

Gray peeked inside to see Jellal standing in the middle of the crowd of rune knights with many magic sealing cuffs and chains attached to him. There was also a very obvious rune barrier surrounding him. He turned away to see Erza wearing a very painful looking face.

He knew that there was a possibility of the rune knights accusing Fairy Tail of housing more than one criminal. But he was surprised, they found out that Jellal was the mastermind behind the Tower of Heaven accident? That was quick especially since Natsu told him that Ultear tried to cover up the whole Tower of Heaven incident.

"Jellal Fernandes is and has never been a part of this guild. You can not say we have been housing him when you have no proof of him being tied to us in the first place."

Makarov was really throwing Jellal under the bus here. But it was reasonable. Unfair, but reasonable. Makarov thought Jellal would understand. This was probably inevitable.

"There have also been other rumors of Fairy Tail hiding more heinous criminals," the captain of the rune knights said.

"Rumors are just rumors," Makarov sighed.

"But if it turns out that those rumors aren't just rumors, and there are actual criminals working in your guild to your knowledge, then Fairy Tail may cease to exist. One way or the other."

"The only problem you'll find with us is when we destroy stuff. But that's hardly any reason to disband us since we always pay the fine."

The guild master could tell the captain of the rune knights was new, since he was trying to act cool. "When we find out you're working with dark mages or criminals, that really will be the end of Fairy Tail."

"Oh, boy, you sound very confident. But that will never happen since Fairy Tail has never sided with the bad," Cana teased.

"You say that but look at your guild master's Grandson. Remember what he was going to do? Yes, we know what occurred here. Don't you say surely he has done something _bad_? And your son, Ivan, he sure got his hands in some dark matters. If your whole legacy has been doing _bad_ things, then I wouldn't be surprised if this whole guild was a band of dark mages in disguise of the light."

There was no response from Makarov.

"Might I also add some dark matters concerning the incident with your Ace Member, Gi-"

"ENOUGH!" Makarov yelled, his voice boomed throughout the whole guild. "I think it's about time you all leave now."

"Oh," the rune knights captain snickered. "Are you mad now? Ha! The next time we meet will be our last. The council will now keep an even closer eye on you from now on. _All evil must be vanquished!_ " Then he signalled all the rune knights to leave, with Jellal in their custody.

They all marched out simultaneously, their steps all in sync. Erza saw Gray grit his teeth and she caught a last glimpse at Jellal. The expression on Jellal's face indicated that he was going to be fine. Perhaps him going to jail would keep him safe from the Dark Guild that was targeting him.

Gray and Erza walked into the guild. Most of their members were present, with the exception of Natsu, Gajeel, Laxus, the Raijinshuu, and the severely injured. Things didn't seem to be normal though. Cana was drinking in rage, Elfman tried to calm her down but got mowed down with a kick instead. Levy was also like Cana, but instead of drowning herself with alcohol, she was drowning herself with books. Lucy was trying to snap her out of it while Ultear was in the background.

They hated the council, they acted like they just lost a bet to the council. Of course, it was depressing to have someone you know who is good to be put in prison.

"Ah! Welcome back!" Makarov's voice faked a tone of cheerfulness. But when he saw their down expressions, his smile turned upside down. "So you saw what happened."

"Yeah," Erza muttered.

"I don't get it. Sure Jellal was behind part of the Tower of Heaven project, but he was mind-controlled," Gray said, seeing Ultear flinch for a bit. Gray quickly said, "And that person who mind-controlled Jellal must have had reasons behind doing so."

Erza walked away to the bar stand where Mira tried to comfort her with Strawberry Cake.

"And you just let them take away Jellal. You didn't even even try to defend him," Gray argued.

Makarov sighed sadly. "I'm sure the arrest of Jellal didn't affect you as it did others and I'm sure you're trying to voice out their feelings, which is okay."

"So what?"

"Gray… I'm sure you know that Jellal wasn't the only former dark mage Fairy Tail is trying to protect.

Ultear caught Gray's glimpse.

"If we tried to defend Jellal, they might have gotten suspicious and may have even tried to run background checks and interrogate all the members."

Gray fell silent. He glanced at Erza, who had looked like she was in deep thinking.

* * *

 **~~~Lucy's Apartment~~~**

It happened. He was actually an adult again. Before his child sized clothes ripped off and exposed his naked body to the public, Natsu escaped to find shelter and privacy at Lucy's apartment. It was also his temporary home, until he could get enough money to buy himself his own place of comfort.

He was completely nude by the time he stepped through the window, entering into her apartment. He was glad he avoided a very awkward moment when he noticed Lucy wasn't currently at home, so he quickly locked himself in the bathroom. Taking a deep breath, his eyes met the reflection in the bathroom mirror. The mirror immediately cracked and broke into a hundred translucent pieces upon contact with his eyes.

In each broken piece of the mirror that remained on the wall, Natsu saw himself. Both his eyes were golden and crimson scales covered almost half his body. He immediately recognized this sudden change in appearance as dragonification. The process had been halted when he was turned into a child, but now that he was adult again, the process had continued to transform his body.

He sighed as he turned the sink on and splashed his face with water to make sure he wasn't just seeing things, but as soon as water made contact with the scales on part of his face, the liquid water had evaporated immediately.

Tired, while staring at his many reflections, he sighed to himself, "Great, just great."

He was naked and appeared to be half a dragon. Even with only one of those elements, he couldn't go outside and let the public see him. He did not want to walk outside looking like Gray.

So, he waited in the bathroom for hours, until Lucy would come back to help in his debacle.

Once his ears picked up the sound of keys rattling at the front door, Natsu yelled, not exactly loud, but loud enough to be heard from the bathroom, "Hey Lucy, could you buy some clothes that could fit me?"

He didn't expect the response to come from Ultear. "Natsu? You sound like your old self. Too bad, but I'm not in the mood to do your chores."

He remembered how Ultear was Lucy's neighbor. He didn't know that Lucy trusted Ultear enough to give her a spare key to her room. However, Lucy was trusting enough to let Natsu stay in her room temporarily, so maybe Lucy was just a trusting person.

Natsu did something he would never do, at least when he was in the right state of mind: he begged. Sure, no one could physically see him beg, but he made sure his tone of voice conveyed an image of him begging. He wasn't good at it, but it was enough to convince Ultear to get some clothes for him. She was clearly not used to hearing him beg, and she was clearly annoyed with what a crappy job at begging he was doing.

Once he changed into his new clothes, while wrapping his scarf around his neck and putting on a cloak to conceal most of his body, Ultear ignored Natsu's dragonified appearance, as he had explained some of it before, and just debriefed him on the events that surrounded Fairy Tail while Natsu was busy hanging out in Lucy's bathroom.

This really was a tiring day. And it was a really slow day. First the Fairy Tail battle that was started by Laxus. Then this dragonic transformation that he was going through finally caught up to him again. Now this council thing about Fairy Tail housing criminals.

The third event was probably the worst one that happened. Natsu himself was one of the most well-known dark mages out there. He was just surprised that no one in the council found him out yet. Ultear must have been very thorough in burning any records regarding the Salamander. And maybe the rumors of the infamous Salamander have calmed down a bit since he's hasn't been tied to anything really significant that would be seen as evil.

There was Ultear. She was probably safe considering she was part of the council and probably erased any documents that tied her with the dark guilds. The only way she'd be found out was if she was seen working with a dark guild, which probably won't be happening anytime soon.

Then there was Gajeel. That iron head idiot didn't even know he was affiliated with any guild before Phantom Lord. Natsu knew that they were both in the same dark guild for about a year, but since they were kids, they didn't really do anything much. Nothing from working with that dark guild would tie Gajeel to being a dark mage. But it's after that. Natsu had no clue what Gajeel did with his life after they were separated from the dark guild. Gajeel could have probably done some heinous crime and could be arrested for it without knowing what he'd done. Maybe it was time to tell Gajeel all he knew about him.

Last but not least, Wendy. She was not part of the guild now, but Natsu had been planning on getting her to join the guild after he would reverse Nirvana on her. But with the council on super high alert right now, the chances of that happening without getting any of them arrested were very low. He also knew that Wendy was also getting a bad reputation.

He sighed, from now on, he was going to have to watch the backs of a lot more people.

"I'm sorry," he heard Ultear's voice speak from behind him.

He lifted his head and turned around. "Well that's a surprise. I never would have thought you to be the type to apologize for no reason."

"Shut it. I'm just apologizing for my miscalculations. I was so sure that he wouldn't be caught so quickly. I hadn't known the new council would be organized so quickly."

"What made you think the new council wouldn't be organized so quickly in the first place?"

Ultear sighed. "I worked with them for two days. They argued all the time and never got anything done. I actually still don't believe how they organized the rune knights to find out the person responsible for the Tower of Heaven."

Natsu tapped his forehead. "Maybe they didn't… Maybe it was someone who suggested that Jellal was the mastermind. Perhaps someone who worked with Jellal backstabbed him so the he could roam free while Jellal was imprisoned."

"Or… maybe it was someone who hated Jellal and found evidence for him to pay for the crime."

"Like..?"

"Like Milliana, Sho, or Wally. Anyone like that who knew Jellal and could use evidence against him."

Natsu rubbed his head. "Well what's done is done. We can't really do anything about it. For now, let's just watch our backs."

"What? You're going to sit back on this one? That's a surprise."

"What are you talking about. I was merely just dragged along to every event that I've encountered so far," he muttered. "What, and _you'll_ actually do something useful this time?"

"Yes. By tomorrow morning I'm leaving to go to the council and work things out."

"So quickly?"

"It's better to get things done now rather than later. The chances of me bailing out Jellal are super low, but maybe I can erase some dirt off of the _Salamander_. Plus I'll do the work of finding out anything about Makarov's son."

Natsu smiled. "Thanks… You're a _good_ person," he teased.

"Don't call me that!" She hissed.

Once they finished their 'conference' in Lucy's room, they just stared at each other, or more specifically, stared into nothingness. So much had happened in their lives the past month. Once they were both spies for Grimoire Heart, now they're just normal mages in Fairy Tail. It was too big of a change to seem realistic, but it still happened. Sure, they had to worry if Grimoire Heart would launch any more attacks on them, but they were adjusting to their new lives just fine.

They could've used this chance to talk about how they felt about Grimoire Heart. Although, their dark backgrounds did not allow it to be usual to talk about one's feelings. Ultear could have used this chance to ask Natsu more about Zeref, but to her, Zeref seemed to become a less important part of her life. Natsu could have used this chance to ask Ultear why she really stayed in Fairy Tail. It couldn't be just because they were _friends_ or that she lost a bet to Erza. However, they both used this chance to let silence fill the room.

"Why did you come into Lucy's room?" Natsu suddenly broke the silence.

Ultear suddenly turned her gaze to the floor. She could not hide the faint blush on her cheeks. "I was just getting a book Lucy had let me borrow," she quickly replied.

Natsu raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Are you… making new friends?"

"Shut up!" Ultear hissed as she furiously walked out of Lucy's apartment and slammed the door.

The dragonslayer chuckled. Yep, things were changing fast. But perhaps things were changing for the better.

* * *

After getting yelled at by Ultear, for always teasing her, Natsu headed for the building that belonged to Fairy Tail. It was slightly destroyed... again, but the guild members seemed enthusiastic to rebuild it.

Natsu decided to walk to Erza first. He saw how she fast ate the strawberry cake that Mira gave her.

"Depressed?" he asked.

"No…" She said after she swallowed down her food. "I was just wondering if Jellal might be safer in prison."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion. "How so?"

"Well, Ultear did mention how Jellal was wanted by a dark guild. Now that he's in prison, the dark guild can't come after him anymore."

"You're right," a light bulb flashed over Natsu's head. Then it dimmed a bit. "Speaking of Jellal, do you know what happened to Mystogan?"

"He's probably off on some mission now… We won't be seeing him for a while now, I think."

"Oh." Natsu scratched his head awkwardly. That was the end of that conversation.

Footsteps only noticeable to Natsu's enhanced hearing sounded from the entrance of the guild hall.

Natsu turned to face the guild entrance again, to find Gajeel walk in. The iron dragonslayer was seen walking to Makarov and speaking to him briefly. Natsu decided to turn off his enhanced hearing because he already decided that what they were talking about was none of his business. He then walked to Lucy to ask, "What happened to Laxus?"

Lucy shook her head, "I don't know yet. Master hasn't announced anything yet. But I do know that Laxus is resting in the Infirmary."

Natsu nodded. "Can I sleep on your bed tonight again? It's actually surprisingly comfortable."

"HELL NO!" she screeched and 'Lucy kicked' him in the face, which in all honesty didn't really hurt Natsu at all. It did almost kick his hood off, but Natsu grabbed his hood and pulled it further down his face so that his face wouldn't be seen well. Lucy paused for a moment. "Why are you hiding your face anyway?" she asked.

"I'll explain later," Natsu shrugged.

Suddenly, from the second floor of the guild, Makarov yelled, "Natsu! Come to my office now!"

Erza, Gray, and Lucy seemed to simultaneously shift their head towards Makarov even though none of their names had been called.

Natsu walked over to the stairs of the second floor when he heard Makarov yell, "Erza, Gray, Lucy… You three better not eavesdrop again!"

Natsu heard the said three sigh in disappointment. He rolled his eyes as he climbed the stairs and entered Makarov's office. Once he was in the room, he quietly closed the door. There, Gajeel and Makarov looked like they had some important news to share.

"What is it?"

Gajeel growled. "Well first off, I think you should take your hood off! It's rude you know," the iron dragon-slayer then yanked the hood off of Natsu's head which revealed the horns, the scales, and the eyes of a dragon. Makarov and Gajeel's eyes widened, to show the shock they felt when they saw his appearance.

"And it's rude to take someone else's hood off," Natsu hissed. "Someone sure gained an attitude."

"Natsu, you'll explain your transformation later. But first, we have some other news to break to you."

"Okay…" Natsu said, not liking the sound of where this conversation was going.

"First, Ivan -my son- has chosen Gajeel to be his new spy."

The fire dragon slayer sighed in relief. Yes! No spy job for him this time!

"But other than Fairy Tail, Gajeel was tasked to spy on one other thing. You," Makarov announced as he pointed at Natsu.

"Why me?"

Gajeel crossed his arms. "He said that one of his other spies found out that you knew about the 'darkness of Fairy Tail' or whatever. It's more like he's focusing on the information you have rather than you yourself."

"Wait, there are other spies in this guild? And I don't remember saying anything about the darkness of Fairy Tail," Natsu said.

"'Fairy Heart' *cough* *cough*" Makarov annoyingly fake coughed.

"I never-" Natsu cut himself off as he remembered what happened earlier today. "Oh right… I accidentally said the name when I was a drunk kid… whoops."

"Ivan called it 'Fairy Tail's Darkness' and Lumen Histoire," Gajeel said.

"Fairy Heart's another name for Lumen Histoire. Which probably means that my son doesn't know the real name of it. That tells us basically how much he knows about this secret."

"I never would've thought a light-hearted guild like Fairy Tail would keep a secret from its guild members," Gajeel muttered.

"Isn't more unbelieveable that Makarov is here telling us -the newest members - this secret?" Natsu chuckled.

"I don't have a choice," Makarov said. "First of all, you already knew about Lumen Histoire. I just need to make sure you don't go spouting this name all over the world now."

"I won't."

"Second, Gajeel's mission requires him to receive information little by little. If he doesn't report to Ivan with any information, then Ivan will probably think that Gajeel's not a good spy and will fire him. We're trying to find out what my son's up to, not chase him away."

Gajeel nodded.

"So you don't want me to say anything relatively close to Fairy Heart? Is that it?" Natsu asked as he put his hood back on.

"No… there's actually quite a bit more information," Makarov stated.

"Surely all this information can't all be related to me… Right?" Natsu sweat-dropped.

"Not exactly, but some of the information I'm about to give you requires your help."

Natsu tilted his head in confusion but motioned Makarov to give away all the information.

"Gajeel said Ivan mentioned something about there being other spies in the guild. Carla was one of those spies. But she probably won't be coming back anytime soon since she had been seen working with a dark mage and attacking our own. So there's only one other spy other than Gajeel."

"Do you know who that spy is?" Natsu asked, while hiding surprise that Wendy's cat was working with dark mages. However, Wendy herself is working for dark mages, so should it really come to a surprise?

"Mystogan. Ivan told me that the other spy was Mystogan because he didn't want us to get in each other's way of this spy mission he gave us," Gajeel said.

A bit stunned, Natsu asked, "Are you sure he's not lying?"

"We don't know," Makarov admitted. "But it doesn't hurt to be cautious."

Natsu raised an eyebrow. "Makarov… Are you doubting one of your guild members? I find that very unusual."

"I'm not. I'm letting you two doubt your guild you see anything suspicious, report to me immediately."

Natsu leaned back in relief. "Is that it? Do you want me to do anything specific?"

Makarov's faced transformed into that of the jolly face he had when Natsu first met him. "Yes, just act like a normal guild member for once."

Natsu chuckled, "Now wouldn't that make _me_ look suspicious?"

Makarov ignored the comment, he knew it was impossible for him to not look suspicious. For Mavis' sake, the boy was wearing a cloak that covered most of his body. "You're both dismissed."

The two dragon slayers nodded, and left the office.

* * *

 **By the way... I left no notes for this story. So, I don't really remember where I was going with this. But hopefully it's going in the right direction... Yeah. I mean, if you have any ideas, please share, cause oh my gosh, back then I was young and literally wrote anything. At least such a thing such as improvision exists, or else, this new chapter would have never been released! :D**

 **And hopefully I'm better at writing to give you even more enjoyment and understanding while reading this.**

 **Thanks for reading :3**

 **To be continued...**


End file.
